Into Madness
by Sinistrocity
Summary: Asura's been defeated, but the City is still buried in rubble; Shinigami Kid isn't prepared to rule after his father's death. And when our three protagonists find a way to bring back Crona, there's no stopping them - But some things aren't all black and white in Death City. Rated T because violence and teenagers swearing. Woohoo! 8th chapter is on!
1. Death City, Excalibur, and Witches

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN SOUL EATER GUYS**

* * *

**Chapter 1: - Of Death City, Excalibur, and witches.**

Light fills the sky in Death City. It's a new day, a new time, and a whole new world thanks to _them._

Maka. Black*Star. Kid. Each fighting for the safety of Death City and the wellbeing of their friends and families. After the events of 'The Dark Side of the Moon', the three made history (As well as a book), and all citizens of Death City bowed down before them with admiration and respect for their courage and bravery. Children ran around the street, role-playing as a Kishin or one of the three brave heroes.  
And now, as you the reader, arrive in the world of Soul Eater, 7 of the most important people in Soul Eater history enter the scene.

After the celebration of the death of the Kishin, life would have return to normal if not for the many complaints Death City received from all the other countries in the world. Yep. Even though Death City was practically on their knees for these three young meisters, apparently the rest of the world didn't quite approve of it.  
This was all pretty surprising for Death City, seeing as they had just saved the world only to be met by a flurry of angry letters from the news and from other people who had no idea the Kishin had risen, and only realized it when he had been defeated.

_Where is Tezca? Where is he? What happened to Tezca Tlipoca?_  
_What? Why did you not tell us sooner? Our meisters could have beaten him!_  
_Leaving 3 children to fight the Kishin? How cowardly is the DWMA?_  
_Lord Death is dead? Lord Death, the Shinigami? Who will take charge of Death City then? His son? Death the Kid is too young to even understand the concept of ruling over people. _  
_Death City is truly in chaos._

And yes, Death City was ruined. Even after the defeat of the Kishin, Death City still could not revert back to its original state. Its once towering buildings were turned into smoking smithereens. Street markets and merchants were all gone, most likely they decided to move out - fearing that destruction like this would come again and kill them in the process.  
"We really made a mess didn't we?" Black*Star shouted to the sky.  
"Black*Star, this isn't funny. People have died because of this mass destruction." Kid snapped. His three lines of Sanzu had finally connected, making him a true Death God. This happiness over his true symmetrical form only lasted for a while though, since he had more pressing matters to deal with; rebuilding Death City being one of them.  
"Kid's right," Maka sighed. "It's been more than a year now, but look at this. We're just a small city, and no one really bothers to help us despite the fact that we just saved their lives from extreme madness. I didn't expect people to get mad at us, but looks like I was wrong. "  
"I was joking guys!" Black*Star said cheerfully.  
"That's why Kid said it wasn't funny, you baka." Liz rolled her eyes.  
Tsubaki was actually the only one that was being helpful, assisting citizens and moving rubble, using her weapon form to hack at debris and free some people that were trapped underneath the rocks.  
"Well, we better get back then," Soul spoke up. "We have a lot of work to do back at the DWMA."  
"Tsubaki!" he called out to her and she looked up as she lifted an old man's cat out of pile of debris. "It's great that you're helping, but we need to get back to DWMA. Stein wants us there as soon as we've finished his survey." He held up a board with a couple of checks and crosses. This was the fifty-sixth survey they had done, and there was really only minor improvement happening throughout the city. Something seemed to be wrong, but none of them could understand what.  
"Right." she nodded.  
The 7 of them looked at the one building that hadn't been destroyed completely. The one building that stood tall against everything that tried to knock it down. The four red towers and grand entrance were unscathed. The twin candles on opposite sides of the building were still lit with bright orange flame. DWMA had seen better days, better nights, but it wouldn't be destroyed that easily.  
"Come on guys." Maka said, and they all trudged warily back to school.

* * *

"Welcome back, Maka." Franken Stein said upon their arrival.  
"Hello Professor Stein!" she waved back. "Why did you want us back so quickly?"  
"Yeah Professor!" Black*Star whined. "Why couldn't we spend some more time outside?"  
"Just because you're Spartoi and you've beaten up a Kishin over a year ago doesn't mean you can skip class every day just to 'check up on the city'. I've already let you off for more than a year so there's no way I'm letting you miss any more lessons."  
Soul and Black*Star grumbled. Their friendship had grown even stronger during the Kishin battle and after. Missing school for so long gave them plenty of time to catch up on each other's lives and be awesome.  
_But school just ruins everything… _Black*Star thought glumly.  
"Of course sir." Maka said; her brow furrowed in worry. "I can't let my grades drop!"  
"Exactly Maka. Good answer."  
Soul groaned inwardly.  
_Maka… we could have persuaded him to let us skip class! Just for a little more!_  
"Soul, start walking unless you want an extra 30 minutes of dissection time after class. With me." Stein smiled.  
"Yes sir." Soul picked up the pace.  
"Oh, and Black*Star, don't forget – you still haven't cleaned up the library, so you're definitely staying after class."  
"But sir that was ages ago…"  
"Black*Star. Library. After class." Stein shot him a look that either meant 'you-better-come-along' or 'dissection-dissection-dissection-dissection-yes-dissection'  
"Yes sir…" Black*Star whimpered and scampered off like a puppy.

"Come on Liz, Patty, we have to go as well." Kid motioned for the girls to get going.  
Patty sighed and threw her hands up in the air. "But we've had so many fun times together... couldn't we just stay like this a little longer?"  
Liz laughed and reached out to stroke her sister's hair.  
"We still have to learn, Patty. Or else we'll be back on the streets being dumb idiots again."  
"Okay then…" she sighed, following her sister.  
"Not you though, Kid." Stein held up a hand, signaling Kid to stop.  
"Huh? Why not? Girls, go on ahead. I'll catch up to you guys later."  
"Yes Kiddo-Kun!"  
"Actually… Liz, Patty, since both of you are his weapons, you might consider coming with him as well." Stein added.  
"Alright! No school for me today!" Patty cheered. Soul and Black*Star stared.  
"Lucky!" Black*Star whispered.  
"Professor, why does he get to skip class?" Soul whined. Maka kicked him in the shin and they kept walking.  
"Excalibur." Stein grimaced at the mere name of the mystical weapon. "Excalibur wants Death the Kid in Lord Death's room." the sour look on Black*Star's face was immediately replaced by a look of pity and relief.  
"Ugh… Okay." Kid huffed.  
"The rest of you, hurry up! We're already 45 minutes into class time and you guys still haven't seen me dissect the last living blue flamingo* yet."  
Before he left to class, Black*Star handed Kid a candy bar, probably relieved that _he _didn't have to be the one meeting up with the legendary holy sword, and went on his way to the EAT lesson.  
"Let's go girls." Kid called out behind his shoulder.  
"Okay Kiddo-kun!"

Neither of them noticed the abnormal, empty stare that Kid had on his face when he entered Lord Death's room. Neither of them noticed him wince when the doors creaked open.  
"We'll stay here Kid." Liz said. "Excalibur might want to discuss things with you alone."  
"Fine with me."  
Neither of them noticed the heavy thuds that his shoes made, as if every step was his last.  
No… It wasn't Excalibur that worried him.  
But something else.  
*_Not a real creature in Soul Eater._

* * *

_Shinigami's (Kid's) office._

"Do I just…" Kid hesitated. His father's robe was lying on the floor next to Excalibur.

"Fool! A Shinigami doesn't hesitate, you know." The pathetic little weapon pointed his cane at Kid and waited for the 'regular' response but it didn't come. Kid was still staring at the remains of his father, who was no longer living. There wasn't even a skeleton to remind Kid that he was there.  
Just a mask and a cape.  
Just a costume.  
"You'll have to wear that you know," said Excalibur. "You _are _the new Shinigami and you will be taking charge of DWMA sooner or later."  
"I understand the responsibilities I have to take on."  
"Well then wear it, you fool! If you are going to be the next Lord Death you might as well start looking like him!" The holy sword exclaimed. Kid ignored him.  
"Fool, I said wear it-"  
"SHUT UP! GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" Kid screamed.  
Silence.  
Excalibur didn't look shocked or surprised at the new Shinigami's sudden outburst of rage, but simply looked him in the eye and nodded somewhat solemnly.  
"Fool," Excalibur muttered. "Attempting to use Madness through Rage. What a hopeless child. Fine then, scream if you must, but rage will not get you to perfection." The weapon left the room, leaving Kid to stare helplessly at his father's clothes.  
"I know that!" he muttered as he heard Excalibur slam the door close.  
_I'm very proud of you Kid! __You're turning into a fine Shinigami!_  
_How are you feeling today, Kid?_  
"I never -" Kid started, but the words never came out. He kneeled down before the dusty cloak and mask, trying to speak once more.  
"I never told-"  
"I never told you-"  
"How much I loved you?" Kid stiffened and turned around, almost bumping into the Thompson sisters.  
"What are you doing here?" He said, his voice wavering. "You- you were supposed to stay outside."  
"That's okay." Liz said softly. "We never told our parents that either. And, even if we did, I doubt they would have heard us anyway."  
Kid burst into tears. It was one of those rare moments where Liz and Patty would see their strong, cold, almost fearless meister cry. It wasn't the same sorrow that Kid showed when his OCPD upset him, but something else entirely.  
This wasn't the happy-go-lucky Shinigami who made Soul the Last Death Scythe and talk about finally reaching perfect symmetry. This wasn't the powerful Shinigami who had performed the ultimate death cannon on the Kishin. This wasn't the Shinigami they knew.  
But there was nothing they could do. The Thompson sisters may have had parents before, but neither of them showed love to Liz or Patty whereas their meister meant a lot to Lord Death, and Lord Death meant a lot to him.  
"Kiddo-kun, we…" Patty trailed off.

Silence again.

"I'm sorry Elizabeth, Patty. You can go." Kid sniffed and rubbed his eyes. They weren't red and puffy yet, but they would be if Liz didn't 'butt in and save the day' like she always did when his OCPD ruined him.  
"We're not going just yet-"  
"Just get out of here!"  
"NO." Liz kept her gaze on him, staring defiantly. "I'm not leaving you alone."  
"Neither am I." Patty took her sister's hand and then reached out for Kid's.  
"Kid-kun..."  
The Shinigami hesitated for a moment, and then in an almost robotic reaction took her hand in his. He slowly stood, legs trembling and tearstains down his cheeks.  
"I must look stupid like this," he said miserably. "I'm terribly sorry."  
"You're fine." Liz smiled. "Everyone gets a little emotionally unstable after something like this."  
"But I'm a Shinigami!" he protested weakly. "A Shinigami doesn't cry! Have you ever seen my father cry?"  
"It's the mask, you silly." Patty laughed. "I bet he cries for you all the time-"  
"No Patty don't say that…" Liz glared at her with a look that seemed to say 'You-are-making-everything-worse' but Patty didn't seem to get the message. Oh well. The damage was already done.  
"That's the point!" Kid cried. "What if he was crying over me and I just- I just stared at him blankly– Him, my _father _for goodness sake! And all those nights when I locked myself in my room _reading _when I could have spent time with him all those moments he wasn't busy I was going over symmetry and fussing over it and-" He cried uncontrollably as tears slid down his cheeks, dripping onto the dusty floor below.  
Patty, who was usually the positive person, had nothing to say to her meister. Unlike him, she never really had a caring mother or father. If she didn't understand how he felt, how would she be able to help him? Patty only knew about laughing and happiness. Not being miserable. Fussing over OCPD was one thing; but this was something else entirely.  
For the first time in her life, her head hung low and her shoulders sagged. Those playful bright blue eyes that she was born with were clouded over. Patty could cheer everyone up but in this situation, she looked hopeless.  
So it was up to Elizabeth. Always Elizabeth.

_I'm a piece of symmetrical garbage! Junk! I don't deserve to live!_  
_No Kid that's where you're wrong. You'll become the strongest Shinigami ever, and look! You look more symmetrical today!_  
_Really?_  
_AHAHAHA KID-KUN LOOKS SO STUPID!_

"I just wish I had spent some more time with-" Kid's incomplete blubbering brought her back to reality.  
This was too much. Liz wasn't cold-hearted, but she couldn't stand it anymore. She understood that Kid had his moments. He would cry, he would sniffle. Then his façade would turn blank and empty, pretending that what happened a few minutes ago did not exist. Well his face certainly didn't blank out now, and if he didn't learn to suck it up like she and Patty did, well she would- she would-  
_Smack! _Liz hit him across the face with as much force as she could muster. And… he went flying.  
"Patty, wait outside for a moment, okay?" Liz whispered to her sister. Patty nodded and left the room. Now it was only Elizabeth and Kid.  
"Get up Kid." Liz said harshly.  
"E- Elizabeth?" Kid was stunned. _Elizabeth? ELIZABETH? Did she just-_  
"You heard me Kid. Get up." Her soothing, sweet voice that she had used a few minutes ago turned into a growl. No… it wasn't the warning voice she used.  
"What's going on-?"  
"Get up! Or are you too cowardly to even move?" Liz shouted at him.  
Kid stared.  
_Liz? Elizabeth?_  
He stood up again. There was a bruise forming on his right cheek but not that it mattered, it was already healing. The problem was…  
"So you've finally got your ass off the ground, didn't cha?"  
"Liz?" The new Shinigami could only repeat himself.  
_Isn't that the voice she used when she used to mug people? __What? Why would she…_ _Liz?_  
"Whu… Why are you acting like this?"  
"Why am I acting like this? You were an emotional wreck. Okay, fine with me. I tried being nice, and patting your back, and helping you up. Speaking softly to you, babying you but _no. _You were still crying like the child you were." she paused. "Actually, let me rephrase that. The child you _are_. If someone as powerful as you can't even control yourself like this, how are you supposed to rule a city huh? How are you supposed to rule an effing city?"  
"I- I" Kid stared, dumbstruck and confused.  
"Oh stop stammering Kid!" Liz yelled, pacing back and forth. "You're a Shinigami! A. Shinigami! If I were you, I wouldn't stand there mumbling and crying like and idiot, I would do something! I would help people!"  
Kid was still gaping.  
"Is this the face you want to wear on your celebration day? Crying and red eyed? As if there won't be any hope of rebuilding the city? There are still monsters out there Kid, and if you can't contain yourself, then we can't stop you. And what's worse is people look up to you. They need a strong, powerful leader. Can't do that? Fine! Make it up. Pretend that you're okay. Smile and wave - just make them buy the act. As long as they think you're happy, they won't lose their strength or their will to keep moving. Make me buy that act, Kid."  
She paused to take a breath, and then closed her eyes, reminiscing about her past.  
"There have been countless times where I have had to keep my face smiling for Patty. There have been countless times where we've almost died and yet I laugh it off with her. That is why she keeps smiling, keeps hoping for the best. You need to do that Kid. If you're still upset, wipe it off your face and paint it blank. Do it for them." Liz gestured to the mirror where you could see civilians packing and fixing things.  
"And if you can't do it for them, do it for us. Patty and I. Please."  
There was silence. Shocked honey-colored eyes met soft brown ones and they stared at each other.  
"Okay." she huffed. "Rant over."

More awkward silence commenced.

"Liz?"  
"Oh, please don't tell me that didn't have even a LITTLE bit of an effect on you." she rolled her eyes, throwing her hands up in the air.  
_Lord Death, if you're actually up there please help Kid understand-_  
"I'm sorry Liz."  
"What did you say?"  
"I said… I said I'm sorry. You and Patty respect me so much, look up to me so much, I must be letting you down." Kid's sobs faded and he regained his composure, turning to look her in the eye.  
"I guess I was… Like you said, I was an emotional wreck just now. Sorry about that too - I don't know what came over me just now. I guess it was just the sudden loss of my father. I mean I barely spent time with him-" Liz put a hand over his mouth.  
"Nope. No ranting." she glared.  
"Okeph. Sorphy." Kid said behind her hand.  
"Eugh, don't even think about talking when my hand is still over your mouth!"  
"Sorry again." Kid said sheepishly after Liz had took her palm away. She wiped it on her skirt twice.  
"It's okay." Liz sighed. "So what did Excalibur actually say to you that made you so upset? Remind me to slug him in the face the next time I meet him."  
"I won't need to remind you… You'll slug him in the face anyway." Kid grimaced. "Excalibur wanted me to wear the mask and the cloak. To look more like Lord Death." He pointed to the worn out cloak and mask. Liz picked it up.  
"I really don't get why you can't wear your own cloak and mask; I mean it looks the same, so why bother wearing a second hand cloak?" She handed him the clothes. He gratefully accepted them slipping on the cloak and then shoeing the mask to his face.  
"I must look grand in this." He said.  
"Uh… Yep. You sure do."  
"Why is Patty being so obedient?" Kid wondered.

"I distracted her with a lot of wonderful promises of what we were going to do – With Kiddo-kun."  
"Wha- Oh fine. Shopping again?" He grumbled, taking out a shiny credit card from his pocket.  
"Yep. But we've decided... since you're so upset and all, you might as well shop for our clothes." Kid's face lit up at the idea of shopping for clothes. If he was in charge of the twin pistols' shopping session today that meant…  
_Oh Patty, I really hate you sometimes. _Liz thought.  
"Clothes! Excellent. I'll find the best tailors in the city to make you and Patty the prettiest most symmetrical clothes you have ever seen. Come, let's go shopping!"  
"Can we not go shopping for symmetrical clothes?"  
"Absolutely not! If your meister is a fully-fledged _symmetrical_ Shinigami, then you must look like the two most prettiest _symmetrical_ weapons there are in the world!" he beamed with satisfaction, proud of what he had just said.  
"Whatever. At least we're going shopping."

At that moment, Patty who was waiting outside decided that she couldn't contain herself any longer.  
"KID-KUN!" she burst into the room, flying towards Kid as if he was the key to her survival.  
"Patty don't- Aghh!"  
"I'M SORRY WE UPSET YOU!" Patty wailed. Kid, still shocked by the amount of force and power that was put into the crushing death hug, could only force a smile and hope that one of his ribs weren't broken.  
"It's okay Patty, it's okay. It wasn't your fault anyways." Kid wheezed as he weakly pat her back while she sobbed.  
"Kid!" Liz whispered sharply. Kid turned to her. She was backed against the wall, mouthing the words 'no-you're-going-to-kill-yourself'.  
'What-could-possibly-happen?'a he mouthed back-  
"WHAT DID YOU SAY KID? IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT?" Patty, who was lying on the floor moments ago, was now standing, glaring at the walls, the crosses, the mirror, and everything in Lord Death's room. Kid gulped. Liz shook her head at him, pressing her fingers on her lips.  
'Don't-say-anything-'  
"WHO HURT KID-KUN?" Patty howled, grabbing a chair and crushing it against her skull.  
"Patty- Patty calm down for a sec-" Kid who was millimeters away from her face felt as if his eardrums had burst.  
_Just going to back away now-_  
"NO KIDDO! YOU'RE STAYING CLOSE TO ME!" Patty screamed, grabbing the collar of his shirt and flinging him over her shoulder.  
"I WON'T LET YOU GET HURT BY ANYONE! ANYONE WHO HURTS KIDDO-KUN OR MAKES HIM UPSET – I'LL – I'LL - I'LL KILL THEM!"  
Liz would have laughed if not for the horrific scene in front of her. She looked at the helpless Shinigami, who was currently being dragged by a little girl that was younger but somehow more intimidating than him.  
She stood there, eyes glued to the ranting Patty and the lifeless Shinigami. She would have stood there for a few more hours if not for Kid who was mouthing words so quickly she almost couldn't read them.  
'Liz-Liz-help-me-help-help-please-I'm-dying-I'll-go-shopping-with-you-and-Patty-just-make-her-stahhp'  
She shook her head, and ran over to Patty who was still ranting. If her little sister was a regular person, her throat would have already surrendered to the cries and her vocals would have been damaged; she was literally shouting the house down.

"Patty- Patty, you need to-"  
"WHO HURT KID-KUN?" she glared at Liz. Liz realized that if she didn't answer her, the rants would go on and on, Kid would probably be so tired and dizzy he wouldn't be able to hold any parties for the next few days. Oh dear.  
Patty could be so annoying sometimes. But… She could also be so cute.  
"Patty!" she shouted. "I know who made Kid upset!"  
"YOU DO?"  
"Yes, but first – use your inside voice, 'cause this is TOP SECRET information!"  
"Okay, who hurt Kid?"  
Liz was about to respond with, "Patty, you just smashed Kid's face into your shoulder." but she realized how troublesome that would become.  
"Excalibur." she whispered back. "We're going to go find him and beat the guts out of him!"  
"Yes sir!" Patty whispered back.  
"But before we avenge Kid… we must go shopping!"  
"SHOPPING!" Patty squealed, her whole attire changing. "Can Kid-Kun come please, please, please?"  
"Well… why don't we ask him first?" Liz pointed to the somewhat dazed and weary Shinigami.  
"Kid-kun can we please go shopping with you? Pretty please? You can shop for all my clothes and shop for all Liz's clothes!" Patty gazed at Kid with her puppy eyes, as well as shaking him back and forth until little Shinigami heads came into his blurred vision.  
"Patty, just let go… of me and… we can go shopping." Kid panted.  
"Whoopee!" Patty raised a fist in triumph. "Death Mall, here I come!"  
Kid sighed in relief.  
_Maybe shopping won't be as bad as it seems. At least I can go looking for something symmetrical._  
"And don't worry Kid," Patty added. "I'm going to beat soul out of that Excalibur guy."

Far away, in the cave where the legendary sword lay, he coughed once and sneezed.  
"Someone's talking about me." he sniffed.

* * *

_At the library. [After the EAT lesson]_

"Catch this Soul!" Maka shouted from the pile of books that she was sitting on. She threw him one of the biggest novels he had ever seen.  
"Whoa, what the hell is this?" The book was seriously heavy, and it probably when a ton, maybe even two.  
"All you need to know about Soul Wavelengths! I think it'll help you if you ever want your wavelength to be compatible with Black*Star's. Give it a go, won't you?" Maka smiled and waved another book in the air.  
_How boring, as usual…_  
Books never interested Soul; they were so thick and took so long to read that he had never really read one in his life – unless being 'absorbed' into the Book of Eibon counted*.  
"Maka, why did we come here anyway?" Soul grumbled. "It's way past lunch time and I still haven't eaten yet, you know."  
"Well, all these books are so interesting! Especially this one – 'How our Souls connect – a series of short stories all about meisters and weapons' – and all these writers are brilliant!" she sighed. "I just wish I was like them."  
"Don't talk trash like that..." Soul replied lazily. "You're already too awesome to imagine. But if you would just lose the reading part of you, that would probably make you as awesome as me!"  
"Thanks, but no thanks. I think my 'reading part of me' is perfectly fine!" Maka said cheerfully.  
Soul gazed at her, pigtails fixed perfectly and symmetrically, with a skirt that was seriously too short, a shirt that was a tad too long, and gloves clutching another book in her hands. She was reading it intently.  
His stomach grumbled, and he checked his watch. Oh great, it was already 1:30. If he didn't grab a few snacks from Death Bucks then it would close. Stupid Death Bucks. Of course, there was always the choice of DFC or McDeath – but those were fast food restaurants. And Soul _hated _fast food.  
"Hey Maka."  
"Yeah?" she looked down. Soul was taking (Or rather, trying to take) a book from the bottom of her pile; the pile that she was sitting on, in fact.  
_He's probably found a really interesting book and he wants to read it. That good! _She thought optimistically.  
_That's probably not his real intention though. Oh great, it's probably another one of his stupid ideas._  
"Soul what are you doing? Don't take the books from the bottom, that'll upset the balance and I'll fall!" Her weapon continued to poke the book, waiting for it to be pushed out of the pile. Unfortunately for him, due to the massive amount of books and the 2-ton novels that were stacked one on top of another, it seemed almost impossible to free the book from the pile.  
"I'm hungry, Black*Star's hungry, and Tsubaki is hungry. You can't just leave them here to starve you know," Soul said. "We're human. We have to eat sometimes."  
"First of all, no, not all of us are human. You and Tsubaki both have weapon blood, which means you're _technically _not humans." Maka said matter-of-factly. "And don't tell me that Black*Star is considered human. I mean, look at him!" she pointed to Black*Star, who at that moment, decided that if he couldn't finish reading one page of his book in 5 seconds then he would do have to do 555 pushups.

"I better not mess up this time! Tsubaki! Time me… now!"  
"H… Hai!"

"Black*Star, time's up!"  
"Dammit I didn't make it!" Black*Star lifted his foot and crushed a book in rage. "Now I'll have to do the sit ups! I'll do 700 of them since it took me 7 seconds to finish that! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…"  
"Black*Star, I'm sure 555 push ups are enough of a punishment-"  
"Nonsense! I must be cruel to myself in order to make myself stronger! Let's change that to 1000 push ups Tsubaki!" his weapon sighed in defeat as she listened to his proud voice spout the words 'awesome' 'god-like' 'me' echo around the room.  
"And the library was supposed to be a quiet place to read." she said.

When Maka and Soul had finally took their eyes of Black*Star and Tsubaki they once again resumed their 'conversation'.  
"Anyway, that wasn't the point!" Soul snarled. "I'm tired and hungry, and I don't want to argue anymore! I. Want. Lunch."  
He pulled on the book as hard as he could, and after a few minutes of concentration (While Maka watched pretty helplessly) the book was finally free from the pile, and Maka's high seat started to wobble.  
"Soul, don't you even dare-!"  
"Sorry Maka." he grinned evilly. "I could really use a sandwich right now." he gently pushed the pile of books and slowly but surely, Maka's little makeshift pillar was reduced to a mess, pages falling out of worn old books, and novels dropping to the ground. Gravity pulled her down to the ground and she started to fall, just like the books.  
Down-  
And down-  
Faster-  
But slower-  
"Soul!" she screamed as she fell down, "I'm going to Maka Chop you the minute I touch the floor!"  
She winced and closed her eyes, waiting for the sound of a sickening crunch, but it didn't come. Instead, she heard a grunt, and landed in something soft and warm… was it Soul?  
She felt like the damsel in distress. Ugh, she hated being the damsel in distress.  
"Maka, I never thought… You would be this heavy. Did you gain weight or something?"  
"Maka triple Chop!" Maka crushed his skull for the millionth time. "I was quite capable of getting down that pile of books myself, you idiot! And no, I didn't gain weight! "  
"You don't have to be so mean to me you know; I just saved your little butt!" Soul scowled at her.

"Please, Maka, Soul, we have to be quiet in the library!" Tsubaki reminded them. She walked over to them and instinctively started to pick up books and put them back in place. "And also, don't leave a mess!"  
"Tsubaki you don't have to help us tidy up the mess…" Maka said.  
"Well there wouldn't have been a mess if you didn't let us get our lunch first." Soul muttered.  
"Who was the one who made this mess huh, Soul? It was you! It's not my fault that we have to clean up the library. You could have asked nicely, you know."  
"I was asking nicely for the last 45 minutes!"  
"Well I didn't hear you!"  
The two argued on about the books and Tsubaki smiled to herself. It was just like the old days. There was no Kishin to defeat, no one would get hurt, and life could carry on.

"998, 999, 1000! Hey Tsubaki!" Black*Star called out. His back hurt from the immense training he had gone through in just a few minutes, but it was worth it seeing the amazed look on Tsubaki's face.  
"Yes Black*Star? You're finished with the push ups already?"  
"Yep! So… I'm kinda hungry. Why don't we go to Death Bucks while these two sort the mess out?" he pointed at Maka and Soul who were still arguing; except they were arguing about some thing completely different than what they were arguing about before.  
"You set the turkey on fire, remember!?"  
"Well who was the one who put in the whole bottle of oil?"  
"And who was the one that didn't know how to use a pan?"  
"You were playing with a lighter!"  
"I was testing it to see if it worked!"  
"Then why didn't you test it somewhere else?"  
Tsubaki looked at the two bicker for a minute or two, and then nodded her head, smiling uncontrollably.  
They were both so hot headed that they really didn't know how to control themselves. Soul was always trying to act cool while Maka had so many ambitions and goals that sometimes they tended to be too close to impossible. However, both of them made such a great team when they were serious, especially when they fought – and beat – the Kishin.  
But that was over. And they were back to their normal selves now.  
"You're right. We should get lunch first."

"Why were you looking at Blaire changing, you pervert?"  
"She was in my room! What was I supposed to do?"  
"Shield your eyes! You were supposed to shield your eyes!"  
"Well I'm _sorry_, it wasn't really my fault, was it?"  
"Yes it was your fault! And why do you keep having nosebleeds? You're ruining the apartment!"  
"Me? Ruining the apartment? What about the last time when you almost burned down the kitchen because one of your stupid books caught fire!"

"MY BOOKS ARE NOT STUPID!" Maka yelled.  
"Yeah right." Soul scoffed.  
Maka looked at him, her green eyes flashing in annoyance.  
"Why do you have to be such a jerk sometimes?" she muttered.  
"Well you're the one that started this stupid argument." he replied back.  
"Whatever." Maka rolled her eyes, turning her back to him. "I'm going to go grab some lunch now."  
"EAT LUNCH? IT'S ALREADY 4 O'CLOCK!"  
"Yeah. I'm eating lunch now. Unless you want to go home hungry, you better come with me. After all, I have the wallet, and that means I have all the food." she waved her wallet in the air and looked at Soul rather smugly.  
"Fine." he grumbled. "Whatever you say, 'master of the house'."  
"Hey… Where are Tsubaki and Black*Star?" there were only the two of them in the library. Well, apart from the librarian (who realized that he couldn't stop the 2 hour argument and decided he would just sit in a corner and cry because his books were ripped and broken).  
"They went to Death Bucks. To eat _luncheon_." Soul shot Maka an angry look that said, 'We-should-have-went-to-eat-lunch-too'  
"Well I'm _sorry_, I was too busy reading cool books! Like this one!" She absentmindedly held up a book. Soul was about to wave it off and leave the library when he saw the title.  
"Black Blood? You're reading a book on black blood, Maka?"  
"Well I just…" Maka trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. She looked away, and she could feel her eyes getting wet. "I just wanted to read something, that's all."  
_Dammit Soul you said the wrong thing. _Soul mentally slapped himself.  
"Are you… Is this about Crona?"  
Maka avoided his gaze, staring down at the clasps on her boots. "No, I just happened to find a book that was about black blood and since black blood is relatively new, I thought I'd give it a go and read it."  
Silence. Soul stared at Maka. Her back was turned, but he couldn't hear her crying. Did he say something wrong again?  
"Hey, no I guess it's okay-"  
"No Soul, you're right." Maka shook her head. "Books are pretty stupid after all. Come on, let's go."  
"Maka-"  
_Slam! _And she was out of the room. Soul ran out of the library, but Maka was already gone. Only the faint pitter-pattering of footsteps could be heard, indicating that she was too far away for the death scythe to catch up.  
"Maka you…" he sighed.  
_Black Blood huh…_  
_Crona._

"Hey uh… librarian?"  
"What is it, young meister?" the librarian sighed. "You've already caused so much trouble I guess I won't be able to stop you."  
"Could I borrow a book? Just… It's very important."  
"Whatever you please, 'Lord of the Library'. Do whatever you want, mess this place up for all I care. Take a book, any book. I won't stop you."  
"Thanks." Soul said gratefully.  
"You're not welcome." the librarian grumbled.  
Soul immediately ran to the level 4 books, and started scanning the bookshelves for anything, anything that was about black blood.  
"Hm… Excalibur's darkest secrets… The life of Lord Death… Book of Eibon…"  
_Why am I doing this?_  
_I… I don't know._  
_It'll be almost impossible to find a book on black blood. So little is known about it – and even the first test subject to the black blood is gone. Who would ever write a book about that anyway?_  
_Well it's worth a try I guess. For Maka._  
And there, on the edge of the bookshelf was one of the thinnest books ever.  
_It looks like a pampy thing… a leaf thing… a leaflet! That was it._  
"Black Blood and its ancient mystery. Ancient? But I thought… I thought Medusa created black blood. This doesn't make sense at all." he shook his head and opened the leaflet. He squinted and brought it closer to his eyes. The words on the leaflet were so minuscule and cursive that it was almost impossible for him to even read the first sentence. In fact, the first sentence was the only sentence he could understand.  
"Black blood… has been… originating when a storm trooper – A storm trooper? What the hell? Oh wait, no. Wait, what?"  
"Okay… let's start again." He took a deep breath and squinted once more.  
"Black blood has been – wait there is no has been – Black blood originated from the dark and stormy… knight? What the – What?"  
"Okay… One. More. Time." Soul closed his eyes, and took another deep breath.  
_You can do this Soul. You have it in you. You're a death scythe, isn't that right? This puny little book won't be able to stand in your path._  
"Black. Blood. Originated from the book. Originated from raging hamsters. Not long ago – Ragin' hamsters? WHAT THE HELL IS A RAGING HAMSTER? THAT'S IT! I GIVE UP!" he hurled the book at the wall, mentally hating himself for his lack of reading and book intellect.  
"Now that I think of it… 'Cooking Recipes?' That was the title? What is this? What the hell is wrong with my eyes?"  
He blinked and picked up the leaflet again. Sure enough, the title read – Sweet Baby Munchkins.  
"I knew it," he muttered. "My eyes were playing tricks on me." Soul checked his watch and nearly tripped on his way out to the library.  
"What the – It's 6 already? Oh great, Maka's going to kill me!"  
"Hey boy!" the librarian called out as Soul ran out of the library. "You still want your free book?"  
"You can have it!" Soul shouted back. "It's just a stupid novel about mice and cheese!"  
"Okay then!" the librarian said, almost too cheerfully.  
"What's wrong with this guy?" Soul mumbled. "He's moody for an hour and then super cheerful after a few minutes… crazy idiot."

* * *

In the library, the librarian's muscles relaxed, and he once again wiped off the ever-present sweat that was running down his forehead.  
"You can come out now, Missus Witch," he whispered to the library. "That untidy brat is gone."  
And from the corner – in fact, the exact corner where the librarian had wept - a woman emerged from the shadows. Her hair was an untidy mess of black and grey. A crooked little hat resembling a claw was perched on top of her head, and she was wearing a long fur coat and gloves resembling sloth hands.  
"Thank you, kind soul. Pray tell, who was that cute little boy back then? He would make a great addition to my charms." she held up the lengthy necklace she was wearing; there seemed to be millions of miniscule trinkets hanging from the necklace – and each with a different carving.  
"His name is Soul Eater Evans, once a genius pianist, now the 'Last Death Scythe' as everyone calls him. Well not everyone, Missus Witch."  
"Exactly." she crooned. "Not everyone."  
"Pray tell, Mr. Librarian, how did you confuse him with the book?" the witch asked once again.  
"I didn't." the librarian laughed shakily. "The black blood book's author, Medusa, seemed to have cast a form of magic upon it – Apparently, those who are 'serious, unforgiving, and intelligent' are unable to read it. The book instead distracts such a reader with whatever silly or stupid names and words that the reader knows and randomly puts it in the text. It then manipulates the reader's mind and forces the reader's body to either; toss away the book in anger or become uninterested in the book. I also applied some of the incense wax that Dr. Stein used on Maka and Soul when he wasn't looking and applied it to the pages of the text. It didn't put up the huge reaction I was expecting, but at least it managed to irritate and confuse him. Pretty good, wasn't it?"  
"Yes… It really was."  
The librarian shifted uncomfortably on his seat and tentatively asked, "Well now that I've done my part, I guess… What are you doing?"  
'Missus Witch' had gone over to where the librarian sat, and had gazed at him with her round, mesmerizing black eyes.  
"It's getting rather dark here, handsome, and I really don't have a place to sleep. Would it be okay if you… Oh I don't know." she fiddled with her little necklace and suddenly the librarian could feel a cold sensation crawl up his spine.  
"Of- Of course Missus, I'd love to drive you home. But… But what about the payment?"  
"What payment?" she asked innocently. "I don't ever recall striking a deal with you."  
"But you said…" the librarian hesitated.  
_What did she say again?_  
_Something about a large sum of money, yes that was right._  
"Dearest," she whispered in his ear, and fiddled with her necklace once more. "I'd really like to go someplace warm right now. A house? An apartment would do as well."  
"I'm sorry Missus, but I really need the money-"  
_Crack._  
The librarian dropped dead with a thump.  
"Oh dear." she sighed. "Its so tiring… killing people. It takes so much power and will it disgusts me. Now I'll have to go home by myself, on a cold winter night. How dreadful." She stepped over the body of the librarian; his neck twisted in a 360-degree angle. It pained her to see something so inelegant – Well… at least here was no blood.  
The witch waited for a moment, her pose unchanging as she watched the librarian's soul get released from his body, and into her mouth.  
"Oh, delicious." she smiled and licked her lips. "Humans have never tasted better."  
"Slumber!" she called out. "Slumber darling, where are you?"  
"Ha…" Something from the darkness called out. It's voice, raspy and low, animal-like.  
"Slumber darling?" The witch called out again. "Please, come out. You don't have to hide anymore. No one is here to hurt you."  
"Uurhf…" Something in the darkness stirred. And suddenly from the corner of her eye, the witch saw it.  
"Come here, my sweet familiar," she whispered. "Come to mommy."

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

"Slumber, you magnificent boy! Come here and give your mommy a little hug." the witch smiled.  
[_Her familiar is that of a Melursus ursinus, otherwise known as the Sloth Bear. Slow, heavy, but strong with large sickle-shaped claws and a slightly lanky build. It may not be as strong as all the other bears in the world but it is certainly aggressive enough to be_ _feared_.]  
"Mo…Mmy." the bear growled.  
"Yes, that's right."  
"I'm. Hun…gry." the bear huffed and gazed at his 'mother' with his dark chocolate eyes.  
"Oh! I have just the thing." The witch held her breath, and then put a hand on her stomach. For a second nothing happened, but slowly and surely, a low grumble sounded from within her. It was as if the soul that she had eaten just a few minutes ago had come back to life. Well, it sort of did. The sloth witch raised her head and started to wretch. She gagged and hacked, phlegm flying everywhere until finally, she coughed one last time, and the soul of the librarian came flying out.  
It was different, however, from when she had just eaten it. There was only half of the soul, but it was heavy and made a muffled 'clunk' as it hit the carpeted floor. The soul was no longer floating, no longer as free as it looked. Its appearance had dimmed and the soul was dead.  
"Tast…ey." The sloth bear uttered.  
"For you, my sweet." The witch picked up the hardened soul and placed it into her familiar's mouth. He slurped it up like a cub, making loud sucking noises as he devoured the soul.  
When it was fully eaten, the sloth bear slowly turned his head towards the witch, and lowered his head.  
"Good boy." she praised, and stepped on it, climbing up his neck and sitting on his back.  
"Ho…me?"  
"Yes, Slumber. We go home now."  
As the witch and her familiar rode across the desert back to their house, the witch closed her eyes and sighed.  
"I've waited a thousand years for this. I've slept about a few 5 hundred, I've watched the world for about 4 hundred years, and I've participated in the remaining 2 or three years. I guess they'll never see it coming."  
"Was it worth the wait, Slumber?" she patted her familiar's back and he grunted back a response. "Worth…. the… food."  
"Yes, Slumber. The food is definitely tastier than 500 years ago. People are getting stronger, civilians are getting stronger, souls are getting stronger, and that means we'll get to sample some of the most delicious souls in the world!"  
"Ye…s."

"Time flies so quickly, doesn't it?"


	2. Apologies and 2 types of blood

**I would have never thought that I would actually finish this second chapter.**

**I hope someone actually reads this, but if no one does that's okay too. :)**

**If there are any mistakes in this, please point them out for me? That would be extremely helpful and it would make this piece of work a lot less embarrassing (Yes I do check my work a lot but that doesn't mean that I spot every little mistake there is)**

**So. Shall we?**

**\- Sinistrocity**

**IF SOUL EATER BELONGED TO ME I WOULD KISS MYSELF. But It doesn't.**

***throws Soul Eater at Atsushi Okubo* TAKE IT, IT'S YOURS.**

**Soul Eater belongs to = Atsushi Okubo**

* * *

**Chapter 2: - Of Apologies and more than one type of blood (2 types to be exact)**

"Good morning, Soul~" Blaire purred, and for the millionth time she landed on Soul's bed, her chest pressed against his face.

_Hm… Soul isn't moving; so he's still asleep. Or maybe he's pretending. _

"So-ul!" Blair meowed crossly. "Wake up and give Blair a hug!"

She prodded him a few times, pulling at his pajamas and pulling on his hair until he finally sat up, stiff as a plank, causing Blair to jump back in surprise.

"Wha-What-" His eyes were blood-shot and puffy.

His eyes moved slowly from his window to Blair. Then back to the window. Then back to Blair. He suddenly felt the urge to throw-up. Something wet started to trickle down his nose.

_And here we go again. _Soul thought. _Oh no…_

"B-Bla-BPfft!" Blood spurted from his nose, creating a huge arc of blood starting from his nostrils to the edge of his bed. The room was soon showered in his nosebleed, spoiling his pajamas as well as Blair's new outfit. She didn't seem to mind though.

"It's breakfast time!" she winked at him, pointing at the kitchen. Smoke billowed from the door, and the smell of eggs and toast were so strong it almost pushed him back into bed. In fact, the combination of Blair in half of her uniform, the sudden loss of blood and the heavenly, wonderful smell of eggs-

It was too much for him to bear.

"Please get off me." Soul said faintly, and fell back unconscious.

At that particular moment, the door burst open, revealing Maka in a plain white T-Shirt and a cooking apron. Her hair was tied into messy pigtails, and she held a pan in her hands, waving it jauntily in the air.

"Soul, it's breakfast- SOUL!"

She then proceeded to hit him squarely atop his head with a book that came out of nowhere.

"Ow Maka!" Soul woke up from the shock, and clutched his head in pain. "That hurts dammit!"

"Stop the nose bleeding!" Maka shrieked. "You try cleaning all the bed sheets!"

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" Soul screamed back at her. His head had a swollen red bump right in the center of his hairline.

"BLAIR'S THE ONE RESPONSIBLE!" he pointed to where Blair was – but she had already gone. Soul caught sight of a fluffy dark purple tail wavering in the air before disappearing into the kitchen.

"You're so immature!" Maka growled and walked out of his room, throwing the pan and catching it once again as she headed back to the kitchen. Bad mistake.

The bacon that was cooking got thrown into the air, and unlike all of those commercials that Maka had watched, the bacon did not majestically land back _into_ the pan, but instead did a little flip, soaring through the air like a comical slow-motion cartoon. Maka watched in awe as the bacon continued its journey. The pan slipped from her hands but she ignored it.

A wet slap interrupted the somewhat 'beautiful' moment, and Maka realized that the bacon was not floating in the air majestically, but in fact it was slowly sliding down Soul's face, leaving a greasy trail of oil.

"MAKA!"

"Oops…" she cringed. "Sorry Soul. I didn't mean to-"

"MY HAIR DAMMIT! UNCOOKED BACON!? REALLY? AFTER ALL I DID TO TRY AND GET YOU WHAT YOU WANTED YOU JUST TREAT ME LIKE SOME PIECE OF C-" He stopped talking.

_Oh great. Now what do I do?_

"Just forget it, I have to go wash my hair now, thanks to your 'superior pan skills'." he grumbled and shook his head.

"Wait!" Maka's eyes narrowed, and she put down the pan, walking back into Soul's room. "What did you try to get? What did I want-" she stopped abruptly, green eyes widening as the realization hit her.

"It's nothing! Just - Just finish cooking breakfast!" Soul desperately tried to change the subject and got out of bed, grabbing a towel and running to the bathroom.

"No Soul! Tell me, please! Was it about the black blood?"

"Jus forget about it!" Soul murmured, trying to avoid question and hurriedly grabbing a pair of trousers. He had just made contact with the tiled bathroom floor when Maka grabbed the collar of his pajama top, and dragged him back to the bed.

"Maka I'm trying to change!" Soul snapped and wiped off the blood with his bath towel. "Great. Now I have to get a new towel thanks to Blair."

"I'm sure if you told me that it was about black blood, you're life would be a whole lot easier-"

"Well guess what?" Soul snapped. "My life isn't a whole lot easier. That stupid little leaflet took me ages to read and it was just a stupid little-"

Maka lunged forward, grabbing his shoulders. Her head was pressed against his and in the spur of the moment Soul thought he would faint once more.

"You-" she stuttered. "You- you found a book on Black Blood?"

Soul stared at her in shock. Her messy tangled pigtails seemed to glow. Those huge eyes of hers were shining like diamonds.

"Maka you look like a lost puppy-"

"I'm asking you if you found a book on black blood!" Maka hissed. "A book. On. Black blood."

"No, I haven't." Soul replied just as quickly. "Black blood is pretty new anyway, so I don't understand how I could find any book like that besides the one you were holding."

"Are you sure? If so, then what did try to get? What else did I want so badly?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Soul gritted his teeth. Maka was too close to him, too close for comfort.

"Maka, get off-"

"I won't let you go until you tell me what you're trying to hide!"

"I'M NOT HIDING ANYTHING!" Soul roared, and pushed Maka off him. "I'VE JUST WOKEN UP, GOTTEN A NOSEBLEED, A MAKA CHOP, AND NOW UNCOOKED BACON JUST SMACKED ME IN THE FACE! WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"

"I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE HIDING FROM ME!" Maka screamed back.

"FINE! I DID FIND A BOOK ON BLACK BLOOD!"

Silence.

"You… what?"

"I found a book on Level 4." Soul spat. "A stupid, useless book on black blood that gave me no information at all. None. Zilch. Nada. My mind was playing stupid tricks on me."

"Don't lie to me Soul! You found something, I'm sure of it." Maka looked at him defiantly, hands clenched and eyes flashing.

"I'm not lying!"

"Why don't you tell me?" Maka pleaded. "Why don't you want me to know?"

"Nothing!" Soul closed his eyes. All this fighting, all this noise, it made him uncomfortable. All he wanted was – A good morning. A normal morning, where he would eat breakfast, she would eat breakfast, Blair would wish them luck on their school day-

And that's when the black cat went back to her human form, thinking that this was probably a good time to step in.

"Now then, why don't you carry on with cooking breakfast, Maka!"

Both meister and weapon stared at her. She looked at them, confused at why and what they were looking at. Then she herself looked down and realized that her towel was really only draped over half of herself. The top half remained naked and visible to the two students. "Oh… Yeah, I forgot. I just finished my early shower~"

"B-B-BFFFFT!" A long arc of fresh blood sprayed all over the place, splattering the walls and the floor.

There was silence. Again. Maka stared. Blair laughed nervously.

"Oops… sorry Maka." Blair said softly. "I guess I came at the wrong time…" then she returned to her cat form and padded away as quickly as possible.

"Uh… I'll clean it up. Sorry." Soul apologized, sniffing and wiping blood away with his sleeve.

"Why can't you- why can't you be like Kid?" Maka blurted out. "He's so much more mature then you!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Soul glared back at her. "Do you want me to be obsessed in symmetry? Fine! Oh, Maka you have the most symmetrical pigtails I've ever seen and-"

"That's not what I meant, and you know that you baka!" Maka yelled angrily.

"I'm not your perfect little boy." Soul scoffed.

"At least Kid doesn't spurt blood everywhere once every few minutes." she retorted sharply. He ignored her, pressing his hands against his ears and waiting for her to go away.

He heard the scratch-scratch of her bunny slippers fade away, and she was gone. Gone again.

_Gone again. _He thought numbly.

_Why does she want me to be like Kid? What good is he anyway? He's just some stupid obsessed freak, and everyone knows it._

_I'm better than him! My nosebleed problem is hardly anything compared to his weakness to stupid symmetrical enemies!_

Soul shook his head, trying to forget about the whole argument.

But he couldn't. It bugged him the whole time he was showering, changing, and brushing his teeth.

* * *

"I'm sorry Maka." Blair apologized as soon as Maka returned back to the kitchen.

"No it's okay, it was Soul fault. He's an immature moron, that's all." Maka muttered angrily as she poked at the sizzling sausages rolling around in the pan.

"You know you don't mean that." Blair said soothingly. "It really was my mistake, I'll make up for it, I promise. I'll seduce the fish-man later…" she trailed off.

"If he's still there." Maka finished the sentence. She sighed. "All this mess is just so… infuriating!"

Blair leapt onto the kitchen table, next to where Maka was cooking. She gently placed a paw on the meister's shoulder.

"Just don't be mad at Soul, alright? It was my fault. I guess I came at the wrong time. And also," she added. "Don't compare boys to each other."

"Why not?"

"Because that causes boy rivalry - you know that already. Especially don't involve friends. That causes the most stress."

"How do you know all this?"

"I'm a cat. I have good ears, you know? Working at a bar helps as well." Blair winked at her and attempted to shove her playfully. It didn't work out as expected. "Anyway, I'm sure Soul is a whole lot better than whoever you just mentioned!" Blair said cheerfully.

"Yeah right."

"Well are you compatible with that guy's wavelength?"

"I bet it could work if I read the manual on wavelengths a bit more-" Maka hesitated.

_But would it work as well as it could? _She thought.

"No…" Maka shook her head. "Probably not."

"Exactly! Also, you don't see that kid you mentioned having a whole lot of beautiful fan-girls running around him, desperately wanting him to be their meister, right?"

"That's because-"

"That's because," Blair interrupted. "You're lucky to have one of the most popular – And caring – and don't forget handsome – boys on your team!"

"He's everything but caring." Blair's eyes lit up at the remark. She smiled cheekily and said, "So does that mean you think he's handsome~?"

Maka didn't answer, but instead carried on cooking.

The aroma in the air brought Soul to the breakfast table, and he sat there expectantly, waiting for his breakfast.

"Soul! Get your breakfast yourself!" Maka said roughly, and dragged him to the kitchen. "It doesn't just magically appear on your plate!"

"You've just read my mind." Soul rolled his eyes and carried his and Maka's plate over to the breakfast table.

"Yeah right." Maka shot back. "Don't think that I can't hear what you're saying just because you keep your voice down."

Blair sighed, sending a mental note to Maka.

_Maka, I don't even know if our minds are connected, _Blair thought. _But if they are, please calm down._

As Maka and Soul had breakfast, both thought the same thing.

_Is it my fault?_

_Is it his/her fault?_

_Is it… our fault?_

_If only- If only-_

_Stupid, stupid me._

* * *

_The Death Weapon Meister Academy. Front gates._

"Good morning academy." Soul whistled. Maka looked on, with a blank expression on her face. "Still upset about this morning?" She didn't answer.

"Don't be so grumpy."

As they walked up the stairs to Shibusen's front gates, both could hear some sort of riot going on.

"Fight me!" Maka heard someone shout.

"Oh great." she sighed to herself, shaking her head. "I bet it's-"

"I won't lose." another voice called out.

"Is that-" Soul ran up the remaining steps, ignoring the cries of his meister as he reached the top. Kilik, Pots, Ox and Kim were watching scene next to Stein who was supervising the duel.

"So that means…?"

Black*Star was amidst the crowd of other students, in the center. His whole body swayed back and forth, and his eyes were narrowed and serious. Tsubaki was clenched tightly in his hands, in shuriken-star mode.

His opponent on the other hand, was stumbling to and fro, in a ridiculous suit of black, holding the twin pistols- most likely Elizabeth and Patty.

_Lord Death? What the-_ _That's Lord Death's costume! Who's in- Kid?_

"Take that!" Black*Star lunged forward, one hand outstretched. "My superior wavelength!"

"Missed me." Shinigami Kid ducked, pushing Black*Star off him like he was nothing but a rag doll. His opponent went flying into the air, only to do a sophisticated flip and land back on his feet.

"It'll take more than a puny push to bring me on my knees, Kid!" Black*Star laughed.

The boy in the Shinigami suit – which Soul now guessed was Kid – still seemed to have the upper hand, but was very, very clumsy and his technique was quite sloppy. He obviously wasn't used to fighting in a suit like this.

_Why is he fighting in Shinigami's suit anyway?_

"Woah! I almost got hit there!" Black*Star shrieked in glee as he purposely let the compressed wavelengths leave a cut on his shoulder.

"Please be more careful Black*Star!" Tsubaki cried out miserably. "You can't just play around like this during a fight!"

"Don't worry Tsubaki!" Kid's muffled voice sounded through the mask. "He's not playing around, I'm sure about that."

"Is that Lord Death?" Maka asked curiously. She had finally finished running up the steps and joined Soul to watch the match.

"Nice one, Black*Star." Kid grunted under the mask of Shinigami-sama. "But these fat white hands of mine seem to absorb the attacks pretty well."

_Kid? _Maka thought. _What kind of costume is that?_

"Tsubaki! Enchanted sword mode!" Black*Star yelled.

"H-Hai!" The shuriken glowed and transformed into the demon blade. Her meister grinned, and then charged towards Kid. Energy crackled all around him, and an aura of darkness seemed to engulf his body.

"Liz, Patty!" Kid shouted in his Shinigami suit. "Human forms!"

"What!?" They shouted incredulously.

"You heard me, human forms, now!" Kid shouted as Black*Star advanced toward him.

"You better not lose to him!" Patty cackled. Kid threw both of them into the air, leaving them to transform back into their normal selves.

"GET READY FOR THIS!" Black*Star roared.

"Like Patty said; I WON'T LOSE TO YOU!"

Black*Star's wavelength and Tsubaki's sword clashed with the Shinigami's hands. Both their souls expanded, and a huge boom sounded as the two of them pushed their limits. Black*Star screamed, pushing more strongly than ever. Kid on the other hand, was finding it difficult to hold his stance, and the demon weapon was pushing him down with incredible strength.

"Shinigami's skull shields!" Two large transparent flat skulls suddenly appeared between the two fighters and blasted Black*Star backwards, sending him tumbling and landing on his butt, just a few feet away from Kid. Kid too, wobbled and fell to his knees. His skull shields faded from sight and disappeared. The two opponents sat facing each other, panting heavily.

Both stood up at the same time.

"I'm going to win… I will…" Black*Star panted.

"That shield…it drained my power…"

There was a sudden flash, and Franken Stein came between the two of them, stopping any further actions involving fighting. "You two have done very well. Why don't we call it a tie for the day?"

"Never!" Both competitors said simultaneously.

"Too bad, because this fight is officially finished. Back to class- Oh wait, I forgot." Stein shot both of them a dirty look. "Class is already over."

"And also," Stein added. "You're going to have to spend library time with me, on dissection books. Dissecting whatever you choose."

"But sir-"

"No arguing, or the next thing you'll be dissecting will be yourselves."

"Will we be able to-" Kid started.

"Asymmetrically."

"Yes sir…" Both dropped their stances and walked back to class.

* * *

"Professor? May I ask you a question?" Stein turned his head and caught sight of two messy pigtails.

"Oh, sure Maka. What is it?"

"You said that class was already over… How long have they been fighting?"

"Oh yeah, you guys were late, I forgot about that."

"Five minutes after class started, Black*Star wanted to have a duel with Kid. And… Kid accepted, because he wanted to test out Shinigami's suit. And the hands." Stein pointed to the clothes that Liz and Patty held. There were two huge white gloves that resembled the old Shinigami-sama's Shinigami Chop hands. Shinigami's mask also seemed to be repaired and good as new.

"So… Lord Death didn't actually have like…" Maka gestured to her own hands.

"Oh no, well he did have huge hands. What I mean is they were sort of part of him. But Kid just doesn't have those, so we had to make a separate pair of white gloves that looked like Shinigami sama's. Of course, they aren't as good as the old ones, but it'll do."

"Oh wow…" Maka turned to look at Kid and Black*Star, who were chatting and laughing while their weapons walked hand in hand. "Both of them are amazing. To have that much stamina and endurance, well, it's just…" she trailed off.

"It's just astounding." Soul finished. Maka whipped her head around, just in time to see Soul raise a hand in greeting.

"Hey Soul." she smiled.

"Sorry about this morning… I uh…" He fidgeted and stared at his shoes.

"It's okay. You're still a baka, but a good one."

"Thanks Maka. And you're awesome as always." Soul grinned and winked at her. Maka's heart skipped a beat.

"I'm also sorry… Er… I shouldn't have-"

"It's okay. He is better that me in some ways and I guess I could never really compare myself to his superior-ness and all. And again, you have to see all those amazing skills that he can-"

"You're better! I was wrong about you!" The words tumbled out of her mouth so quickly she didn't even know what she had said until she well, said them.

"Eh?"

"You're better then him! I think you are, that is. I think- I think-" Maka started to blush, her cheeks reddening every second of the moment.

"Hey love-birds!" Black*Star called out from behind them. Both turned, startled by his appearance.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the library?!" Soul said, clearly annoyed.

"Yeah, but you better come along. I'm treating you guys today because I feel like I've won that fight by a hair."

"What?" Kid screamed. "Make that eight hairs if not none! An even number is always better than an odd! Unless of course… that number you're talking about is an eight. Then of course…"

"Here we go again." Liz sighed.

Soul shook his head, turning away from the crowd.

"Sorry but Maka and I have to go grocery shopping-"

"We can join you!" Maka interrupted. "In fact, let's go now!"

"But what about dinner- Maka!" his meister grabs his hand and pulled him along with her.

"Maka the grocery shop closes down at like- Ouch!" She yanked him closer to her.

"The book on black blood." she whispered.

"What? Oh, just forget about that already!"

"I won't forget!" Maka hissed. "I'll never forget, until the day I die."

* * *

_The Shibusen library._

After Kid and Black*Star finished reading their dissection books and Stein started getting bored, he went off to dissect some endangered creature on his own, leaving the children to do whatever they wanted in the library. The librarian seemed to be absent today.

"Hey Kid, check out this manga!" Black*Star launched the book into the air. "It's friggin awesome!"

"Black*Star," Tsubaki cried out. "Stop throwing books at Kid-kun!"

"It's- It's alright." Kid sighed, arranging the books by himself. Black*Star was never good at doing that.

"Now let's see… Oh this book and that book are now exactly the same height and same width! Perfect, I'll just put this one here, and that one there, and... perfect." Once finished he stepped back to admire his work: the books on the two shelves were now arranged to be completely the same height. Books that didn't fit any height were left on the floor.

"No, no, no Kid!" Liz groaned, pulling at her hair. "Kid, you look at the title and arrange them in _that_ order!"

"Is that so? Well, I'm the new Shinigami so I guess it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"Kid, please." his weapon snorted, shaking her head and placing her hands on her hips. "If you can't arrange them right, then I guess I'll have to do it for you."

"Sure." Kid gestured to the remaining pile of unsorted books. "Do it yourself."

"Fine."

"But make sure it's symmetrical!" Kid gasped. He had almost forgot- oh dear. Liz sighed, before calling out to her little sister for help. She clapped her hands twice, and Patty came running to her assistance.

"Big sis! Watcha need?"

"Since Kid has no idea how to arrange books, we'll do it! And help from Tsubaki would be much appreciated."

"Of- Of course!" Tsubaki smiled; glad that she could finally help get things done.

"Okay Patty! You sort the books over there, and I'll sort the books over there, and Tsubaki you- Tsubaki!?"

"I'm done!" Tsubaki smiled. Behind her the bookshelf stood tall and proud. The books were all clean and neat and tidy, each in their correct section.

"How- How-" Liz gaped.

"Oh, I just did as told… hehe." Tsubaki giggled and blushed.

"Wow! Even the books are glowing, sis!" Patty gazed at the shelf.

As the trio continued to sort out the library, Soul and Maka went through the level 4 books.

"We're not supposed to be here." Maka hissed.

"It's not like you've never broken a rule before Maka. Besides, I already asked the librarian like, yesterday, and he told me that I was allowed to." Soul whispered back.

"Look, there!" He took out a thin, tiny pamphlet, the very same one that he found yesterday. "It's this one, the tiny book."

"It's just a leaflet, Soul. It's not a book."

"Well it said black blood on it! Look, I don't want to get your hopes up, so just to let you know, the light played tricks on me."

"If you say so…" Maka huffed, clearly annoyed and dissatisfied.

"Okay…" she squinted, peering at the cursive letters on the page. "Er… Black Blood – You were right Soul! Uh… Black Blood originated in the time of class, lesson 6. Our essays on souls and witches are due tomorrow, so don't forget to complete them. What? What?!"

"I told you it was useless." Soul muttered.

Maka shook her head, blinking and rubbing her eyes. "It must be because of this morning."

"Okay. Here goes. Black Blood originated in the lab of Medusa. There we go! It wasn't that hard." Maka read out.

"No, it said storm troopers a few minutes ago, I'm sure of it!" Soul gritted his teeth, yanked the leaflet out of Maka's hands and tried to read it himself.

"There!" he smirked, pointing at what he saw.

"I don't see anything there." Maka glared at the leaflet. "It says Medusa."

"Oh."

"Anyway, let's keep reading. Here: I have watched her for several guinea-pigs, and she has traded her transformer card for an Optimus Prime."

"…"

"What the hell did I just read!?" Maka shrieked.

"I told you it wouldn't work." Soul sighed. "It's useless. This book-"

"Leaflet."

"_Leaflet _is too small to read. Just give up on it already."

"No, wait, here's a little bit more writing underneath the title! Maybe it's like a little information about this leaflet. Gosh it's small. Soul, do you have a magnifying glass on you?"

"I can ask for one." And he ran off to find the librarian. Maka watched him go, and then turned back to the booklet.

"I can just make out a few of these words but…" she squinted, pressing her face closer and closer to the leaflet until she couldn't get any closer.

"Only the fools… and the fun… can… have a… chance. At reading?" Maka read out aloud. "Huh. That's weird. What kind of book would that be? Only idiots can read this leaflet?"

_But if my brain keeps messing up like what Soul said earlier, _she thought. _How am I supposed to know what I'm reading is actually what it means? What if the 'fools' can't read it at all? What if it really is just the light, or the writing is too small? What if-_

"Hey Maka, I'm back." Soul held out the magnifier glass to her.

"Oh thanks, this'll help." She put it close to her, but the minute she laid eyes on the next page-

"Eh?" Black. Everything on the next page was completely covered in black.

"I- I can't read it." she stuttered. "The next page is covered in ink."

"What? What do you mean by that? Baka, I can see a whole load of words here! Er… Oh great, not the ragin' hamster thing."

"What- What does it say?" she asked him.

"The same thing. Er… that stupid ragin' hamsters and a couple of midgets… no wait…"

Maka blinked once. Twice. Once again. She closed her eyes- no, she didn't even know if she had closed her eyes or not. Did she have eyes?

_Do I have eyes? How do I use them?_

_Soul? Soul? Where are you?_

"Soul!" she shrieked. "Soul where are you?"

"I'm here! I'm right next to you, so stop freaking out!" Soul bent over to look at Maka, who was staring at the leaflet. Her whole body was stiff, and she was holding the magnifying glass with an iron grip.

_If this is some kind of lame joke, I've got to admit, she's executed it pretty well._

He sighed, turning away from her.

_And if it's a joke, it's definitely not going to work on me. I'm the coolest of cool! I'm not going to fall for a boring prank like that._

Maka tried to turn her head away. It seemed impossible. She tried to lift her leg, or shift her body weight. Again, it was impossible. It was as if there was an extremely strong magnet tied to the magnifying glass and she was a piece of metal.

_What is this? _She thought.

By this time, Soul was getting extremely tired of Maka standing completely still at the corner of the library.

_When is her hand going to get stiff?_

"Maka, stop looking like a complete idiot!" she didn't respond.

"Maka?" Soul tapped her on the shoulder. Her muscles tensed even more.

"Maka, if this is a joke, it's not funny. It's uh… pretty lame."

"Soul," Maka croaked. "I can't move."

"Eh?"

"Help me up." she coughed. "Straighten my back or something. Move one of my arms."

"And… why would I do that?"

"Because I uh…" Maka desperately tried to think of an excuse. "I pulled a muscle and my arm's gone weird."

"Very funny. As if that's going to work."

"I'm not kidding Soul." Maka gasped. "I can't move a thing. I don't even know if I'm blinking or not."

At this point, Soul's suspicions began to fade away.

_It all seems so… genuine. Maybe it isn't a prank after all._

"Then why are you still breathing?" he asked suspiciously.

"How am I supposed to know?" his meister hissed. "Just help me up already."

"Uh… sure." Maka felt two strong arms grip her torso, pulling her back up. Slowly but surely she felt her back relaxing, but it wasn't enough. Her body felt like a rubber band tied to a stick and Soul was stretching her the wrong way.

"No, don't try to straighten my back it'll only make it wor…seh..." she felt a funny tingling sensation crawl up her spine. The sensation lingered, and her whole body seemed to shake.

"Just. Take. The. Magnifying glass. Away." she wheezed.

"O...Kay." she felt his fingers pull at the 'magnet', and then he tried to pry the handle from her hands.

"If you would just let go, my job would be a whole lot easier."

"Just help me." Maka pleaded.

"Guys, what's going on?" A black mess of hair poked out from the shelves.

"Ahh!" Maka screamed. She could feel some funny thing brush against her head. "Soul, help me!"

"Calm down Maka, its just Kid." Soul rolled his eyes, sighing to himself.

"Oh." Maka felt her face grow hot. The fluffy messy hair brushed against her cheek.

"Er… sorry Kid, I didn't mean to freak out."

"It's fine."

"Kid. Would it be possible if you revealed yourself completely and not just your head? Because that's really freaking me out." Soul winced and pushed Kid's head away from him.

"Oh." Kid glanced down. "I guess you're right."' his head disappeared from the bookshelf and went around it. He glanced at Soul and Maka, trying not to laugh at them. "So, how's-" Kid stopped in mid-sentence, holding a hand to his mouth.

"What's so funny?" Soul growled. "Help me already!"

Kid stifled a laugh. Soul and Maka were all tangled up; Soul had one arm around her waist, using his right leg and pushing her body up. His other arm was pulling at the magnifying glass that Maka had in her fist. Maka on the other hand, looked as stiff as a plank of wood. Her breathing seemed harsh and only her eyes and mouth seemed to be functioning.

"Maybe I should give you some privacy-"

"NO!" both of them yelled.

"Pervert." Maka muttered under her breath.

"Maka's stuck." Soul said.

"I can see that."

"No, I mean she can't move or anything." he let go of her hand and stepped back. Kid watched in amazement as Maka's body jerked and went back to its original position.

"Is this some new asymmetrical trick?" Kid asked suspiciously.

"Ask Maka."

"Just help me." Maka coughed. "I can't breath, and I can't see."

The two boys looked at her, then at each other.

Soul looked away. "I've done as much as I can. You fix it, Kid."

Kid turned away, his face reddening. "I'm not her weapon, you are. Now go help her up."

"Guys, I don't care who's helping me-" Maka started.

"Yeah, but we do." both boys muttered.

"I'll go get Liz and Patty. They'll help you out." Kid ran off.

"I'll go get Tsubaki." Soul disappeared around the corner, leaving Maka to stare blankly in the darkness.

"Honestly! What's so bad about helping me up?"

A few seconds later, Liz, Patty, and Tsubaki came running to the level 4 section.

"Oh Maka…" Tsubaki gasped. Liz and Patty shook their heads gaping in surprise.

"Looks like a job for big sis and I!" Patty squealed. "C'mon, let's go!"

"We got it Maka. Don't move a muscle." Liz grinned and cracked her knuckles, moving closer to the said target.

"Careful, okay?" Maka squeaked. "I think I'm losing air over here."

"Don't worry Maka, I'll definitely get you out of this mess!" Tsubaki said determinedly. Maka smiled. At least there was one person who wasn't insane in here.

"Let's do it!" Patty fist-pumped and raced over to where Liz was.

"Here Maka, take this." Tsubaki held out a piece of long, thick jerky. Maka, who currently couldn't really see anything, could only smell some sort of rancid beef. Her nose wrinkled and she tried to move away.

Maka sniffed at it curiously, then looked up to stare at her friend – well, where she thought her friend was.

"Uh… Soul asked me to give this to you. He said that you don't like gnawing on wood."

"Gnawing on wood? Why would I gnaw on… oh." Her thoughts immediately went to Liz and Patty. Her imagination went wild, and she had a feeling that after this, her body would never feel the same again.

"It's okay, Kid told us not to stretch you out… too much."

"Eh… Tsubaki? Please help me." Maka whispered.

"But first off, we're going to have to take off that puffy sweater of yours. It's getting in the way, and it's going to get hot in here~" Patty cackled.

"Please, Liz." Maka whimpered. "Stop Patty."

"I can't help you with that unfortunately." Liz whispered, and both shivered in fear as Patty hurriedly undid Maka's coat and sweater. "No one can stop Patty once she's determined to do something."

But finally, with the help of the Thompson sisters, Black*Star, and the enchanted demon blade, Maka managed to remove herself from the magnifying glass and the book. Unfortunately for her, there were more bruises than she thought she would have. Dark black and blue spots speared everywhere that hurt. And there were a lot of places that hurt.

But wait. Black*Star _helped_?

Let's have a look at what happened before that…

_When Kid, Soul, and Back*Star returned to the library, they witnessed one of the weirdest possible events that they had ever seen in their lives. Before their eyes were a series of girls tangled in a strange looking knot; Patty was using a book's cover to dig into Maka's stiff hands. The magnifying glass was almost out of her grasp. Liz on the other hand, had her arms around Maka's torso, using one of her free hands to push into Maka's back. Both of them were sweating tremendously due to the awkward jerking movements that Maka's body made (The jerking made it hard for the Thompson sisters to push Maka back to a normal position). Liz and Patty had taken off their jackets (since Patty was feeling a little stuffy and Liz couldn't object), leaving the sisters in nothing but identical black tank tops and hot pants._

_Tsubaki stood on the side, holding the beef jerky that was wet with Maka's saliva. There was no way she would get involved in this._

_It was… weird. _

_"I'm glad I'm not part of this…" the boys whispered to themselves. Black*Star and Soul reached into their pockets hoping to find some sort of napkin to wipe off the small streams of blood that were running down their noses. Kid absentmindedly handed both of them a few tissues. He was staring at the combination of 3 girls entangled together. Unlike Soul and Black*Star, not a single drop of blood fell from his nose._

_"Pervert." Maka glared at the boys in disgust. "Stop staring at us!"_

_"Sorry." Kid shrugged, turning around. "But you should have put something less revealing on."_

_"And why would we be staring at you, Maka?" Soul teased. Maka fumed, blushing a bright red._

_"Just get out of here!" she yelled at them. Black*Star laughed and went over to the girls. "Hey Tsubaki, are you okay?"_

_"Hai! I mean, yes, I'm fine! Tsubaki smiled. "I think Liz and Patty are enough to get Maka back up on her feet, that's all."_

_"Nah, I could do way better!" Black*Star grinned. "Move outta the way, girls. I'll do this myself."_

_"Um… okay, if you say so." Liz and Patty got off Maka, who 'jerked' back to an awkward position. _

_"Ow…" Maka mumbled._

_"Go, Black*Star!" Patty fist-pumped again._

_"I got this!" Black*Star ran up to Maka, lifted his foot, swung his fists-_

_"HEY HEY! This doesn't seem like a great idea, what's going on!?" Maka said hysterically. Anything that had to do with Black*Star was not a good idea and would always end up in chaos. Especially when he tried to help someone._

_"Maka!" Soul screamed. "Don't get killed by this idiot!"_

_"AHHH!" Black*Star yelled and kicked her in the back – as well as hold her shoulders firmly in place. Her body jerked once more, and she coughed up blood. Funny cracking sounds came form her back. Black*Star jumped back, and waited for the results. Maka was still stiff as a plank, but this time her whole body was stiff and straight. Blood was running down her mouth, and her hands started to twitch. A few seconds later she crumpled to the floor, crashing into the ground._

_"I- I can see." Maka gasped, staring at her hands. _

_"That baka's kick actually worked?" Liz grumbled. "Great, so our hard work was for nothing." _

_"I HAVE A FIST OF A GOD!" Black*Star yelled at the sky. _

_Soul rushed Maka to the nurse's office, and Kid joined the rest of the group._

_"How did you do it?" Kid asked._

_"I TOLD YOU, I HAVE THE FISTS AND FEET OF A GOD!" _

* * *

_Nurse's office._

"Are you alright?" Soul asked for the 3rd time. Maka rolled her eyes and waved him away.

"I'm fine." she huffed. "It's not like I almost got ripped in half or anything-"

"But you were hurt. I couldn't protect you." Soul glanced at her, and then looked down.

"Oh please. Protecting me? I'm capable of taking hits myself, thank you very much!" she scowled. "And you couldn't help me anyway. That book was probably cursed, or charmed or something."

A sudden knock and the door startled the two, and Soul hurried over to open it, revealing Nygus and a couple of bandages.

"Why are you here?" Nygus demanded. "Go home already."

"I can't, she's my meister!"

"Your meister needs some quality time, by herself." Nygus motioned for Soul to get out, and he glared at her before leaving. "Hey Maka, I'm going to go back to the apartment, okay?"

"Uh… sure." she replied.

"I'll be back, don't worry." The door shut, leaving Nygus and Maka alone in the nurse's office.

The nurse sighed, and went over to where Maka lay.

"It's okay Nygus, you didn't have to send him off."

"You need rest Maka." Nygus stretched out the bandages and wrapped them around the bruised areas. "There, I've applied some cream on those. It should help the pain go away."

"Thank you miss." Maka smiled. "And sorry about uh…" Nygus sighed.

"It's fine. The librarian didn't stop you, so why should I?"

"Oh... The librarian wasn't here today."

"What? He always comes, at exactly 8 in the morning." Nygus stared curiously at Maka. "He's never late. He's never injured or sick."

"That's funny." Maka frowned. "He wasn't there."

"I'll go check it out." Nygus stood, and passed some of the bandages to Maka. "Here, just in case you need some more."

Maka watched Nygues leave the room.

A few minutes later, Black*Star, Tsubaki, Kid, Liz, and Patty entered the room silently.

"Maka!" Tsubaki whispered. "Are you still hurt? Are you okay? I brought this for you." she held out a glass of lemonade.

"Thanks Tsubaki!" Maka said cheerfully.

"Are you okay?" Liz asked. "Sorry about the pushing and stretching that you went through. I thought it would work…"

"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Maka winked. "I'll be good as new in a few hours."

"Maka." A silky low voice turned her head and Kid handed her a thin leaflet – the one on black blood.

"I supposed you found that. Why were you in the level 4 sections anyway? You know that only some privileged level 3s and I are allowed to access that area."

"I…" Maka faltered. "I just wanted to help Crona."

Silence.

"It doesn't work." Kid murmured. "I can't read a thing on there. But this leaflet, may I have it?"

"Why?" Maka asked.

"It's…" Kid took the leaflet and gazed at it happily. "Each word on one page of the leaflet is reflected on the other page, making them perfectly symmetrical!" A tear slid down his cheek.

"Oh god…" Liz face-palmed and pulled it out of Kid's hands, ignoring his weak cries of protest. "All I see is… Ooh, there's a sale tomorrow? This is like, something from the newest magazine!" She pressed her face closer to it and squealed in delight, eyes scanning each page.

"Guys." Black*Star interrupted. "Can I see?"

"Oh sure." Liz handed it over, and Black*Star eyed it suspiciously. Tsubaki looked at it over his shoulder.

"It's just a instruction booklet on karate moves." he grumbled.

"No, it's a cooking recipe!"

"Guys. GUYS." everyone turned to Maka.

"It's different for everyone." Maka grumbled. "That's why I couldn't find out. I read some sort of little inscription at the bottom, and it said something like, only the silly and fun can read it or something."

"Silly and fun?" Kid wondered. "Are you sure it said that?"

"Nope, not at all. Since the leaflet always plays tricks on me, that inscription should be incorrect according to what I learned."

"I think it's probably a trick." Liz said, raising her eyebrows. "It just sounds really, really suspicious." The rest of the group nodded their heads in assent, apart from Tsubaki who seemed to be lost in her thoughts. Suddenly she looked up, eyes alert and shining.

"No, wait!" she cried out. "Let… Let Patty have a look!"

"Ehh?" Patty tilted her head and looked at Tsubaki sideways. The rest of the group slowly turned their heads towards Tsubaki.

"And why exactly," Kid said in a low voice. "Would we do that?"

"Because- Well you see, I was thinking that Black*Star should have been able to read it as he is quite funny and nice to be around."

"He's funny?!" Maka said incredulously. "He's anything _but _funny!"

Tsubaki ignored her (perhaps for the 2nd time in her whole life) and continued with her little hypothesis. "And you see, I realized that he probably might not have been able to read the page partly because he is too determined and too serious because he has his own goals to achieve – hence the 'only the silly and fun' I guess he wasn't 'silly' enough-"

"And definitely not fun enough." Maka grumbled. "Don't forget that."

"Anyway," Tsubaki continued. "I was thinking that since you and Kid couldn't read it that was probably because both of you guys aren't really…"

"It's ok, Tsubaki." Kid smiled. "I know I'm not funny."

"That's not true Kid!" Patty laughed. "I think you're the funniest guy in the world!"

"Well, not to everyone." Liz reminded her little sister. "Why don't we continue listening to Tsubaki, okay?"

"Thank you Liz! Anyway, as I was saying, that leaves You, Patty and I. I don't think you're that silly, but Patty, what do you think?" She turned to the younger weapon, who replied with enthusiasm.

"Sis is very, very serious, and dangerous. And cool! She can fight anything!" Patty smiled and clasped her hands together. A little image of her 'big sis' popped up above her head. Her fantasies were a little too much for everyone, and all except Liz turned their heads away.

"Patty, please don't over-estimate me… It makes me feel guilty for some reason." Liz said, cheeks flushed red.

"Okay, so that leaves you, and Patty. You're a lot more serious than Patty, I'm quite sure of that." Tsubaki nodded. "Okay. So that only leaves her, right?" There was another silence as the group slowly went over Liz's conclusion.

"I don't get it." Patty frowned. "But I really want to read whatever you want me to read, so lets do this!"

Maka slowly handed her the leaflet. Patty immediately snatched it out of her hands, raising it above her head. She then had a closer examination of the pages, and narrowed her eyes, sharpening her vision in the process.

"Uh… Oh! I got it!"

"You did it?" the whole group gasped, amazed that both Maka's and Tsubaki's theory was actually correct.

"Well it says here… 'This is the account of Medusa Gorgon, sister of Arachne and Shaula Gorgon."

"Oh my god…" Maka breathed.

"Patty you did it…" Liz stared at her in awe. "I never thought you would actually be better than me in something."

"Ooh!" Patty cried out excitedly. "Ooh, it says more: 'I know that by the time you, Crona, will have found this you will most likely have killed me or you will most likely be dead. Could be both. Either way, I want you to know that I am very, very proud of you. You killed for me, and that is all I will ever ask of you. Insanity is the key to the Kishin."

Maka glared at her bedsheets in anger. She grabbed at them and clutched them with such a grip that her knuckles started to go white. "Medusa..."

Patty suddenly launched into a different voice, mimicking Medusa.

"Maka."

"What?" said girl cried out. "How did she know that we would-"

"Maka Albarn." Patty read out in Medusa's voice. "Hello there."

And slowly but surely, Patty read out each and every word of the first page. Very, very accurately.

Very, very creepily.

Let's have a look.

_This is the account of Medusa, sister of Arachne and Shaula Gorgon._

_I know that by the time you, Crona, will have found this you will most likely have killed me or you will most likely be dead. Could be both. Either way, I want you to know that I am very, very proud of you. You killed for me, and that is all I ever ask of you. _

_Maka. Maka Albarn. Hello there._

_I know you have found this. I also know that since you will never be able to read this (since I enchanted this little diary of mine) so you will have made someone else read it for you instead. You wicked little girl, always looking into my secrets. Always wanting to reveal them._

_I also know, that you've probably brought your little gang to investigate as well. Probably by accident._

_Oh, I bet the look on your visage is going to be devastatingly confusing. Probably a touch of anger, a touch of hatred, and a touch of curiosity all mixed into one, then slapped into your pretty little face. Gorgeous. I love it when people are mad at me, makes me feel all giddy inside._

_I'll get straight to the point._

_Someone else is watching you, another witch I'm guessing. There are so many different witches in the society that I couldn't possibly know, could I?_

_Then again, you don't trust me._

At that moment Maka sat up with a jolt, slamming her hands on the bed sheets, creating a loud muffled thump.

"TELL ME WHO IT IS MEDUSA!" Maka screamed.

_Oh, I don't want to ruin all the fun of guessing. If you keep glaring at your friend impatiently, then I guess you won't get to know who's stalking you._

_So, let's start by giving you some information._

_By the time you have found this, you'll have killed the Kishin. You'll have just started to go back to class. A few months later, maybe. __You discover my lovely secret. I don't know who else has discovered this, but what does it matter? Only you will truly understand my goals. __I won't be the only one who's plotting._

_There are more witches out there who want to create Kishins. For the first time ever, I fear for Crona's safety. And maybe even yours to a certain extent. I may still need you, and you may still need me._

_What is that? You don't understand?_

_Why might I still need you? Vice Versa?_

_Oh darlings, all of you are so pathetic. I do wish it were Stein who was reading this, not this pathetic little girl in a pathetic little cowgirl hat._

_Oh and yes, I do know what's happening right now. I will always know what is happening, no matter what happens to me, I'm everywhere._

_I bet you're breathing in me, wishing I was alive so you could kill me ten times over._

_Shall I taunt you a little more?_

_The pathetic little cowgirl doesn't know she's being insulted, and her pathetic sister doesn't understand a thing – obviously. Both of these so-called demon pistols have brains the size of walnuts._

_Oh, and that enchanted demon blade? Don't make me laugh. Someone so soft like her can only be laughed at. No matter how many stones you throw at her she won't fight back._

_Again, I use my favorite word in the dictionary – Pathetic. _

At this point, Liz snatched the leaflet out of Patty's hands and crushed it in her palm, her face a pale white.

"How dare she treat Patty and Liz like this!" Kid said angrily. "This woman- This woman I just-"

"I'm going to kill her." Black*Star said coldly. "I'm going to rip her in half."

"Black*Star-"

"She insulted you, Tsubaki! I'm going to bash her skull right in!"

"Guys! Stop!" Maka shouted. "I know you're angry, I know you're upset." Maka said shakily. She clenched the bed-covers even more. "But she's Medusa. What else would you expect from the wickedest woman in the world? Patty, please keep reading."

Patty looked up, nodding and smiling. She placed a hand on Liz's shoulder, and gently took the paper from her hands.

Then smoothing out the leaflet, she began to read once more.

_Oh, I love the looks on your faces. Anger feeds me well. __I would love to taunt the little boys as well, but I guess I won't be able to or else they won't allow this little girl to continue reading. __Oh, how I love the fact that you all look at me so furiously! Makes me want to laugh. In fact, I'm laughing as I read this._

_I'm sure you've all found out._

_I'm sure you probably don't want to realize this, don't want to accept it, or whatever. But my next statement won't shock you._

_I'm alive._

_However, my next statement probably will._

_Crona is alive as well._

* * *

**Ughhh... Took me forever.**

**It's not perfect and will never be. . Sorry about that, I'm trying to explain everything but when I do that I end up having to explain more than I need. So I'm sorry about that.**

**R&amp;R would do me good. :)**


	3. Dreams and negotiations

**Thank you so much for the reviews! You guys make me laugh so hard xD**

**Here's the third chapter you've been waiting for!**

**Some credit goes to my sister for being the awesomest spell-check grammar doesn't-make-sense lady in the world!**

**-Sinistrocity**

**IF SOUL EATER BELONGED TO ME I WOULD KISS MYSELF. But It doesn't.**

***throws Soul Eater at Atsushi Okubo* TAKE IT, IT'S YOURS.**

**Soul Eater belongs to = Atsushi Okubo**

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Of dreams and negotiations.**

The news hit them hard. After Patty had finished reading from Medusa's little diary, the group of 6 stared in silence, the words sinking in.

_Crona is alive as well._

_Crona is alive._

"I can't believe it…" Tsubaki said softly. "She's alive."

"Crona?" Maka whispered. "Crona… Crona is-" Tears slid slowly down her cheeks; not ones of sadness though, but ones of hope.

"Should we really trust her though?" Kid said doubtfully. "I mean it's not like she has never tricked us-"

"MAKA!" Soul burst into the room, unaware of the other occupants inside the nurse's office. "Hey, are you alright? I bought the groceries today and if you're not feeling well I'll cook- oh my- are you crying? D'you need some tissue or something I'll just go grab some-"

"I'm fine!" Maka interrupted. The shock and surprise on her face was immediately replaced by a more calm and collected one. "But first, let's get you back on track. Remember the black blood leaflet you showed me?"  
Soul scratched his head sheepishly. "I guess it didn't work, right? Yeah, I remember."

"First off, it's not a leaflet. It's a diary. Secondly, it did work; Patty can read it." As soon as Maka mentioned the said weapon, Soul's eyes widened (To the extreme).

"Wha- Patty!? Why can Patty read it but not me? How does that work?!"

"My hypothesis was correct." Maka watched as Patty and Liz looked over the next few pages, Patty looking on in awe while Liz stared at the supposedly 'blank' pages in confusion. "It seems as though only the kids who are fun, stupid, and carefree can read this diary. Some sort of charm was cast upon these pages."

Maka then proceeded to explain what the diary was talking about, how Medusa was still alive, how Crona was still alive as well.

"It's like she's been looking into the future and reading our minds." Maka shuddered, drawing the blankets closer to her body. "It's freaky to know that someone's stalking you."

"Wow… That's weird. And creepy." Soul raised an eyebrow, watching as the rest of the group. "So Patty is a… funny idiot?"

"It seems so. I guess she was always the type to cheer people up and laugh it off, so maybe that does clear the 'fun' part. "I guess you could also say that she is *cough*not very smart*cough* since she, well you know, has never really received a proper education."

"I know I'm stupid!" Patty waved at Maka, beaming as if that was a compliment. "I can also hear you, ya know~" Maka's face flushed in embarrassment and she looked away.

I'll pretend I never heard that… Anyway, we have to tell the professor about this."

"Shall we then?"

"Sure."

"Bakas, your voices are as loud as elephants!" Black*Star shouted. "I can hear you from a mile away!"

"That's because you're right next to us." Soul muttered. A sudden tap on his shoulder sent shivers up his spine, and he jolted, whipping his head around-

Thank goodness it was only Tsubaki.

_All this Medusa stalking and witch business is really freaking me out._

_I don't know… I shouldn't have been so scared but… I just don't know why I did that._

"Excuse me but can we accompany you?" Tsubaki asked politely. "Black*Star feels really energetic today and I think it would be nice if he could also spend more time looking into this."

_And why do I have a sudden bad feeling about letting Black*Star come along with us? _

"Sure!" He smiled nonetheless. "C'mon then, we better hurry."

"Hey Kid!" Maka called out. "Are you coming with us?"

"No thanks," he replied. "I'm going to take my girls back to the Death Mansion. Patty's feeling a little 'under the weather'." Kid tugged at Patty's sleeves, trying to pull her up. Unfortunately for him, Patty was still reading the diary and looking over some extra information. She looked up suddenly, looking at Maka and timidly raising a hand.

"Maka-chan, is it okay if I keep this diary thing for a bit?" she asked.

"Oh sure!" Maka said cheerfully. "In fact, why don't you guys keep it?" She turned to Kid. "Is it okay if you keep the diary in the Death Mansion for a while? Since only Patty can read it…" she trailed off. Kid nodded.

"Sure I can. Just as soon as I can get Patty to stand up, that is…" He continued to tug at Patty's sleeve.

As they walked out the nurse's office, Black*Star noticed something odd about the new Shinigami.

"Is it just me, or did he say _my _girls back there?" he whispered to Soul. "It's seems like he wants to own the Thompson sisters as pets now. We better keep a close eye on him so he doesn't put leashes on his weapons." Soul face-palmed as well as laughing to himself. It was one of those funny moments where Black*Star actually realized something that was worth realizing.

"Kid, you might want to rephrase what you said just now." he called over his shoulder. Kid looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he said confusedly. "A grammatical error you mean?" Soul ignored him and continued to laugh.

"I don't understand," he said to Liz. "What did I say that was wrong?" Liz rolled her eyes.

"Nothing, just forget it." she pulled down her cowgirl hat a little more to hide the red that was crawling up her cheeks.

"Kid, are we really yours now?" Patty smiled cheekily.

"Well obviously!" Kid grinned, throwing his hands up in the air. "I practically own you now, since you live in _my _house and you eat _my _food. But of course I don't mind, since we're all in this together, right?" he took both of his weapons and grabbed their shoulders, pulling them close to him. "Because I'll be perfectly symmetrical with you two, right?"

"Right!" Patty laughed.

"Just forget it Kid." Liz mumbled.

* * *

_At Stein's laboratory._

"Hello Maka and Tsubaki! Hello Soul and Black*Star! What brings you guys here?" Mrs. Marie smiled and waved at them cheerily. "I've got some cookies in that cabinet over there if you're hungry. She pointed to the glass case. The mini beakers that used to be filled with potassium, astantine and the other elements were now filled with chocolate chip cookies and juice. The Bunsen burner no longer heated up Stein's experiments, but instead it heated up food. A large teakettle currently occupied both Bunsen burners.

"Wow, you really made yourself at home didn't you?" Black*Star whistled. "Sweet! Like some kind of Mad Scientist chef room or something out of a cartoon!"  
"Heh… I did try to make it look a little less scary in here." Marie said. "And this is technically my home now, you know?"  
"Ooh of course!" Tsubaki said excitedly. "How's the baby?"

"Guys…" Soul gritted his teeth in impatience. "We aren't here for this, we're here to see Stein." Maka glared at him. ["Maka Chop!"] And once again, a book magically appeared out of nowhere and slammed down on his cranium. A loud thump sounded and Soul knew that swelling wouldn't be far behind. Yep. A slow but growing red bump popped up from the surface of his head.

"Ouch Maka… That hurt!" he whined.

"Don't be so rude!" she snapped back at him.  
"Sorry Mrs. Marie," she apologized. "Soul obviously hasn't learned his etiquette. I do hope he wasn't being too rude to you."

"Oh, don't worry." Marie winked at her. "I know boys don't like that sort of thing anyway."

"Anyway, we really need to see Professor Stein right now, so seeing him would do me some good." Maka said.

"Of course! Right this way."

"So… what brings you here today?" Stein asked wryly. "Any fights going on? Perhaps one of you messed up on your revision? Need a _hand_?" He held up an arm he was currently dissecting and laughed manically.

"AHAHA- No, that's not funny professor." Black*Star glared at him menacingly, fists clenched.

_I think he was trying to make a joke, but I guess it wasn't funny because no one laughed. I bet if I act cool he'll take us more seriously._

Black*Star's theory was surprisingly… correct. Stein's laughter immediately seized and he looked at the four children, like he was sizing them up for a sort of fight.

"What happened?" He asked in a more serious tone.

"We've found out something, a sort of tiny book." Black*Star answered. Stein raised an eyebrow.

"A tiny book huh…" he chuckled. "And what kind of book would that be?"  
"Um sir, he means leaflet. It could also be just a few pages of a diary. That would make more sense." Tsubaki said.

"Ah… I see. And why would that be serious?"

Well we found it in-" Maka started.  
"Because sir," Soul butted in. "It's a leaflet on black blood."

"What?" Stein's eyes twitched, and he tossed the dissected hand aside. "Pages on black blood?"

"Yeah." Black*Star nodded.

"And where would you find something like that, huh?" Stein asked suspiciously. "It definitely couldn't have been in the level 1 section, probably not the level 2 section. And if it was on the level 3 section… I would have noticed. I was looking for books there." Stein's eyes narrowed, and a suddenly the warm welcoming atmosphere turned into a cold and hostile one. Maka gulped. Soul looked away, and Tsubaki hung her head, staring at her shoes in remorse. The only person who still felt pretty confident was Black*Star.

_I totally got this. _He thought to himself.

"Well, we obviously found it on level 4! You know, the one where only you guys and Death the Kid can go," he boasted. "The _super_ VIP one."

Silence filled the room.

Soul sighed. _That's it Black*Star, we're done for. _

"And what," Stein said slowly. "Were you doing in the level 4 section?"

The children shuddered again, bracing themselves for full Franken Stein punishment. Black*Star however, seemed to be immune to Professor Stein's stares and continued to brag about himself being all-powerful.

"Well, since Maka and Soul got stuck together or something and Maka couldn't move, I, the one who will surpass all gods naturally had to come in and save the day. Then, while Maka finally got a lot better, she got sent to the nurse, and then Kid found this cool diary thing she had left behind, and so…" he continued to babble, and Stein and the rest of the group could only stare helplessly as Black*Star continued the long explanation.

"…And that's how I saved the day." Black*Star smiled. "Want my autograph?"

"…"

Finally, after about a minute or two of staring in silence, Stein sat up, slowly turned the gears in his head and then leaned forward, staring straight into Black*Star's eyes.  
"No, I do not want your autograph." Stein said in a steely voice. "I do however, want to know what the black blood diary was about. So you might as well tell me. NOW."

"It's about Medusa!" Maka blurted out. "She's alive. Crona is too. She somehow tracked us and managed to find our exact location and our exact movements. Like she was reading our minds!"

"And why would you believe her? I admit that she does sound very much alive, but can you really trust that Crona is alive as well?" Stein asked coldly. "She could have been trying to deceive you, like she did when Crona went back to her."

Another silence.

"I'll…" Maka hesitated.

_What if he's right? _She thought. _It would make more sense for her to lie so she could get to me and kill me. But… I have to find out more to make sure she isn't. She can't lie because I won't let her! Crona has to live she just has to…_

"She didn't lie to me." Maka said defiantly.

"And are you sure about that?" Stein asked again. "You can't always expect the truth from Medusa. In fact, you should rarely expect the truth from her."

"She's not lying. She isn't, I'm sure of that."

"Hm. Always the stubborn one, aren't you? Well then, what do you need my help for? It seems as though you already know what is going on."

"We just wanted to keep you updated you know, just some new findings that's all. I also wanted to ask you about something…" she hesitated, unsure of what to say next.

"Go on, I don't have all day." Stein said rather impatiently. "Oh and the rest of you, get out. I can't have everyone crowding around in my office so go ask Marie for a cookie." Black*Star grumbled and trudged off to find Marie, while Soul and Tsubaki wandered down the other hallways.

"There. Now that they're gone," he stared at Maka quite intensely. "We can get started. Go on then."

"Well, when I tried to look at the black blood diary through a magnifying glass I suddenly felt blind. It was like I couldn't move, like I was in some sort of trance." she winced, as if she was reliving the moments, being trapped in darkness. "And I tried to move away, tried to put the magnifying glass away but I couldn't move."

"So what did it feel like?"

"It felt like…" she trailed off.

"It felt like…?"

"It felt like strings were tying me together in a big squished up lump. It was really weird. It hurt when I tried to move. I also couldn't see a thing, and the darkness made me start to panic."

"How so?"

"I think for a moment… I stopped remembering how to think. Everything was just really fuzzy. It… It wasn't madness." she tried to think back to the time where she was trapped in the black void. "It was sort of like… sleepiness… Like I couldn't be bothered to remember, or I was too confused to remember."

"And so how did you get out of the situation?"

"Oh, I just called out to Soul so he could help me get back up on my feet." she said cheerfully.

"Interesting. Unfortunately for you, I'm not sure what actually happened there. It was most likely a curse from the witch Medusa. The problem is… it doesn't seem to resemble Medusa's magic. It seems to be completely different, I don't know why."

"Thanks anyway, professor!"

"Not a problem." Stein smiled.

"Oh, and by the way professor, what time is it?" Stein checked his watch – 5:30 in the afternoon.

"Time for you to go home, Maka. And almost time for dinner."

"Oh, okay then." and she was off, the doorknob clicking silently as the door shut behind her.

"Strings huh."

_Medusa… what is she planning?_

_That definitely wasn't her type of magic, that confusion curse. It almost sounds like my Soul Stitching magic, but it's not. Definitely not._

_Sleepiness?_

_I wonder._

He ran over to where his files were all stacked up, and clumsily went through it, papers slipping out as he searched.

"Where are you?" he murmured.

Then, from the corner of his eye he spotted it. An old crinkly brown stained paper. It seemed to be at least a century old, and everything on the sheet was written with a feather ink pen.

"Is this the one?" Stein peered more closely at it. It seemed to be a sort of profile of one of the witches in the community.

"Huh… A bear witch. Those are pretty rare," he whispered to himself. "Especially ones that have bear familiars that aren't black or brown bears."

Suddenly something caught his attention. It was at the very bottom of the page, something written in lowercase italic letters.

_The Sloth Bear witches' most common spell is one of confusion. It mixes up the mind and forces the brain to forget the most basic things – such as blinking, thinking or eating. Some expert Sloth Bears witches can cast spells that can even make meisters and demon weapons forget how to breathe, resulting in slow suffocation._

"Stein?" Marie's voice echoed in the room, and Stein slowly turned around. She was holding a large cup of tea and some biscuits. Biscuits were her specialty.

"Hey." he smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem! Ooh, what's that?" she looked over his shoulder, examining the files that he was currently reading. "Sloth bears and Pandas as familiars? I've never heard about those before."

"They're supposedly pretty rare..." Stein murmured. "Should I report this to Lord Death - Oh right. Lord Death isn't with us anymore." he sighed.

He was never really a good friend of Lord Death, more like a working partner. But he knew how kind the old Shinigami was and had a deep respect for him. Losing Lord Death not only meant Death City in mayhem, but also meant a big loss for the DWMA.

"I guess you could report it to Death the Kid. He is technically in charge now, so maybe he'll be able to help." Marie laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently.

"You're wrong, Marie. He still a child, and I highly doubt that he actually wants to become the headmaster of the school – he still has a lot of things to learn and a lot of new powers to discover." Stein sighed, and absentmindedly took out a cigarette, lighting it then placing it in his mouth. He blew out and watched as the cigarette smoke sifted down and around his fingers, dancing and wavering before disappearing completely. He was about to let out another puff when-

"Hey, don't smoke in here! Smoking is bad for you." Marie glared and snatched the cigarette out of his hands and tossing it over her shoulder."

"Ah… sorry about that." he laughed sheepishly. "I forgot about the new kid."

"It's alright. Well, I'm going to go take a shower and sleep, okay? Don't stay up to late."

He nodded and waited for her to leave the room. Marie's footsteps soon faded away, and he went on his laptop and started his search for the Sloth Bear Witch.

It wasn't until 12 o'clock midnight until he realized that there was too little information to even get a basic outline of this witch. There were only a few facts he knew about her, and most of them were really just her magic, but not her location or her appearance.

"Why doesn't anyone know about her?" he muttered frustratingly. "I don't understand, surely there must be at least a basic profile of her, not just..."

He sighed and once again went on his laptop.

_Stein's Notes:_

_ Heard about Maka's little accident – something about a spell of confusion and forgetting. _

_Searched my old files for something like that and found some info on a type of witch – A Sloth Bear witch._

_Never really heard of those, actually. But if black bear and brown bears witches are considered quite rare, then a _sloth _bear witch would be considered… legendary maybe? _

_Here's the information I've found about the Sloth Witch:_

_Name: Unknown._

_Age: Definitely older than Arachne, real age unknown._

_Familiar: Sloth Bear – name unknown._

_Associated with the Witch community?_

_Used to be. Current location is unknown._

_Appearance…_

_Unknown._

_Magic: Confusion magic, a weak form of illusion magic as well._

Stein read over his notes, brows furrowed and eyes glaring. He had barely any information about this witch and no evidence at all that this witch was the one that caused Maka to be blinded by darkness – but somehow deep within him-

It had to be a witch, he knew it. It had to be a witch, what else?

But what did she look like? Without vital information like that, how was he supposed to find out her whereabouts and her secrets?

_Oh how I want to shred her apart…_

_And dissect her…_

There-

No-

A sudden sensation took over him, bringing his knees together and slowly dropping down to the floor.

"Agh…" he clutched his head. It was suddenly as if daggers had cut into his brain, and like ice those daggers made him feel colder and scared and-

"Stein?"

"Who's there?" he grabbed anything on his desk – there, that letter opener – and spun around, shoulders tense.

"It's- It's just me!" Marie was at the doorway, and in her hands was… another batch of cookies. "I heard you screaming and laughing so I thought you started having your nightmares again, so I brought in more cookies-"

"What nightmares? I've never had a nightmare in my life! Also, don't come in while I'm working." He scowled. Marie shrugged. "You started having them a few weeks ago. I didn't want to tell you because well… I thought you already knew."

"Is that why… Is that why there were cookies spawning all over my desk in the middle of the night? Every Monday and Thursday?"

"Hehe… Yeah." she said. "I'm guilty. Don't get mad at me."

"It's fine… Just don't go into my room in the middle of the night."

"Why?" she asked curiously.

"Because I have experiments to test out, that's why. And you need your uh… what's the thing that women always need?"

"Beauty sleep."

"Exactly."

"Oh fine then, I guess I'll just go to sleep alone." she sighed. "Unwanted. Unloved. Uncared for. Un- are you even listening to me!?"

Stein had already fallen asleep.

It was funny… Being inside a dream. Everything floated around you and you floated around everything. Just like being in water or floating in space.

Stein 'swam' around in the dark.

_I've never had a nightmare in my life, _he thought to himself. _Never ever. I'm scarier than nightmares. I'm better than them too._

On and on he floated, in the dark and empty space. It was so endless and so peaceful; he could just float around here for the rest of his entire life-

_Nah. Then I wouldn't be able to dissect anything._

And off he swam, in another direction-

But if this was an empty space of nothingness, how could he tell if he was swimming away from it instead of to it?

Hm. Whatever.

"It's nice here isn't it?" Stein spun around and came face to face with-

"Medusa?" he whispered.

"The darkness is so empty and perfect it makes a great pillow to rest your head in, doesn't it?" she tilted her head upwards, staring up at the black above her. Stein did the same, wondering if there was something above him- but there wasn't. And for some reason that made him feel a little bit disappointed. He expected at least a blood-sucking squid or a ghostly white maniac or psycho, but it didn't happen. Just black all around, all above and all below, like closing your eyes and opening them at the same time. It wasn't like being blind, because you could sense all around you. This was different.

Stein turned to face Medusa, trying to strike a conversation. "You seem pretty civilized today."

"I was always civilized. In your eyes, I was. Not everyone thought of me that way." she said bitterly. The two continued to float above and below the massive grey matter, and Stein decided to break the silence.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"I'm here. Right next to you." she patted the empty space between them reassuringly.

"No, where are you? This is a dream, so where are you?" Medusa smiled at the question, and once again tilted her head up to stare at the sky. She stretched out her hands and arms, arching her back in a sort of yoga position.

"Where I've always been." she answered him furtively.

"Where are you?" he pressed on, wanting to find out the answer.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that until you wake up."

And with that, she leaned in towards him with a hand on his shoulder and her breath on his skin-

Stein woke up screaming.

* * *

_Dreamscape 1 – Maka Albarn_

_Where am I? _Maka asked herself. Floating around in a fuzzy grey space wasn't going to do her any good. It wasn't going to help her study, wasn't going to help her make things right or rebuild a city or a nation maybe a country-

"Maka?" She jolted awake, eyes wide open and forehead matted with sweat. Across from her sat Soul, still in his pajamas. He was holding a cup of tea out to her and smiling that sweet, sweet smile he always-

_Does he always smile?_

And then she went unconscious.

The grey space appeared once again, but it was a lighter grey, with shadows illuminated by a light source that she couldn't see. Life was funny that way; you could never really tell where all the light sources came from. It wasn't just the sun, was it?

"It's not just the sun, right?" she said to herself.

"You're right." a voice said from behind her. It was a feminine voice, a silky smooth but dull voice, with a slight French accent. But was French language her mother tongue? It seemed fake, that accent.

_Then again, a lot of things are faked, aren't they?_

"You're correct." the feminine voice said.

_And if what I said is correct, then that feminine voice could actually have come from a masculine person._

"Right again." the voice said. She turned around slowly.

"Hello." The feminine voice belonged to a young woman. Late twenties early thirties? Perhaps. She waved at Maka buoyantly, with a fake smile plastered onto her face.

"You have a very pretty dress, missus." Maka said blankly. There was something about this lady that seemed odd. Was it the ridiculous amount of golden baubles hanging off almost every single part of her? Was it the messy dark grey hair that seemed so untidy? – Yet the rest of her seemed so neat and clean. Perhaps it was the gloves, those horrendous gigantic sloth claws that covered her slim and slender hands. Whatever it was, it bothered Maka. Her hands twitched, tempted to remove that odd sensation that she was feeling.

"Why thank you. You look beautiful as well, Ms. Albarn." the woman replied.

"How do you know my name?" Maka asked curiously. The woman dismissed the question with a wave of her hand.

"I'm more interested in you then you are in me, Maka." she said.

It was definitely the hat that was odd. That funny crooked hat perched on top of her head – also in the shape of some sort of claw. That was what caught her attention, wasn't it?

And then something else caught her attention. Something far away, a muffled cry of help, perhaps? A wailing child or a hurt puppy?

"Maka." someone called her name, someone so, so far away.

"I think someone needs me." Maka said faintly. "Should I go?"

"I didn't hear anyone." the woman said. She was gazing into Maka's eyes, gazing so serenely-

_Is it just me or do those eyes look like-_

"Kami." the woman said. "Do I really? That's sweet of you."

"Maka!" the faraway voice called out again, but this time it seemed closer.

"I think I need to go now." Maka said hesitantly. She stumbled backwards, turning her head to the distant voice. It sounded so familiar, so unique and strange.

"Maka!" It was a boy. A boy was calling her. What for? She didn't know, but…

"I need to go." Maka said more strongly. She turned away from the woman and started to walk away, taking wobbly steps to wherever she could go, anywhere except next to the strange lady with the messy hair. There was something wrong about her and she didn't like it.

"NO!" the lady shouted, "Come back, I'm not finished with you!" Maka started to walk faster. Faster and faster, looking back as she walked – running would only make her stumble and spin around and around and around. She walked further and further away until the mysterious lady was only a dot in the distance, and then Maka stopped.

"You want to save her?" Maka whipped her head around-

"Do you want to save her?" the woman repeated. Her huge round eyes stared right through Maka's soul – It was almost as if she had become nothing but air.

"You- You-" Maka twisted her head back, and to her surprise, the dot in the distance was still there, still hovering. So how in the world-

"Do you want to find her?" the lady asked again.

_Who is 'her'? Who is she? I don't understand… But-_

"Yes." Maka whispered hoarsely. "I want to. I want to."

"Take my hand." the woman reached out to stroke Maka's wispy blond hair. She smiled softly and Maka's heart seemed to melt a little.

"O-Okay." Maka mumbled. She slowly reached out for the lady's soft, smooth palm-

"STOP!"

"Who?" Once again, Maka turned her head around. Her neck was sore now, and she was tired. But so interested and so curious. Who was the different voice?

_All these voices are making me tired… _Maka thought, but she turned around anyway.

"Maka, stop!" And there was it-  
the world stopped spinning (but was it spinning?). Her heart stopped beating (but was it beating at all?). She stopped breathing (because she was never breathing in the first place, right?).

And right there…

That face, those pink messy strands of hair and that dark black tunic, the thin black sword held in the figure's hands- the girl's hands-

She could almost grasp that name-

"Cro- Cro-" she stuttered-

"MAKA!"

And that faraway voice wasn't distant anymore.

"MAKA!" it called out again.

"Wait!" Maka said frantically. "Cro- Cron-" The figure stared at her helplessly, mouth open and eyes a glassy dull color. Maka let go of the witch's hand and reached wildly for the person behind her.

"MAKA!" each time the voice (But who?) called out her name the world pulsed, black and then white, then black again, until-

"MAKA!"

"CRONA!" Maka screamed. "CRONA, CRONA, CRONA!"

She woke up.

"Maka." Soul was staring right into her eyes. "Don't you dare do that again, you-"

"Crona!" Maka blurted out. "In my dream, Crona she, she, she-"

"Maka, please." Soul pleaded. "Please don't do this again…"

And then something else.

Something else in her mind-

It was there and she knew it. She just had to-

"Witch." Maka whispered to herself.

"A witch."

* * *

_Dreamscape 2 – Black*Star._

Black*Star hated it when he couldn't figure out where he was. It was always very frustrating, seeing as his sense of direction was horrible, and he could only rely on Tsubaki to help him. The problem was, Tsubaki wasn't responding. He had tapped on her blade, and poked the handle but she didn't respond. It was very strange, seeing as Tsubaki had always responded every time he wanted to ask her or tell her something.

Black*Star kicked at the cement-like floor frustratingly as he tried to remember how he had gotten here in the first place. Was it a sort of portal of magic? Maybe it was like the werewolf guy's magic – that teleportation thing, yeah.

"I'll get out of this mess as soon as I figure out what the heck this is!" Black*Star said to himself.

One minute he was yawning, and the next minute he was standing inside this funny grey box. He knew it was a box, because it had all the corners and the edges. Anyway, he needed to get out of here!

_I wonder… This cube must have really tiny air pockets, because I seem to be breathing just fine. _

_Oh darn, I'm really getting off track, aren't I? _

He glared at the swirling blue mass that was bubbling and frothing before him. It wasn't here at first. It only appeared when his stomach had started to grumble. There it sat, all salty and tasty.

It seemed pretty edible but-

_Don't ever, ever, ever eat anything suspicious if you don't know what it is first. _Tsubaki's wise words echoed in his head, and once again he turned away from the salty smelling blob, ignoring his stomach's grumbling protests.

"How are you doing, Tsubaki?" he looked down at the demon blade. She didn't respond. "Huh. Are you still mad?" she ignored him.

"Fine…" he stooped down and poked the blue mass. It swerved and bubbled, the liquid moving away from his finger.

"Hm…" he furrowed his brow and moved closer, trying to reach forward and grab the thing. Once again, it slid out of his reach and he grabbed nothing but his empty hands.

"You seem frustrated." someone called from behind him. He whipped his head around. There were two eyes staring in the darkness, coming from the corner of the grey box.

"I didn't see anyone come in here," he laughed. "Want my autograph?"

"Sure." The figure emerged. A man? A woman? "What are you?" he asked suspiciously. "I don't mean to be rude, but-"

"Androgynous?" the person asked. "I may look like that, but I'm a woman, thank you very much." she chuckled. "You're funny."

"I am?" No one had ever said that to him before – besides Tsubaki, that is.

"You are."

_Is she really a lady? Her arms are so cut and her legs look so muscular. I think she's a woman-male. I can't seem to remember that term-_

"Androgynous." the woman rolled her eyes, muttering. "I'm not a 'woman-male', thank you very much. I just resemble one."

"Whatever." Black*Star said cheerfully. "At least you want my autograph." He whipped out a piece of paper and a pen (which magically appeared out of nowhere), and scribbled out his signature. He handed it to the strange lady who took it and gazed admiringly at the name.

"Lovely name, Black*Star." she said smiling, and handed the paper back to him.

"You… don't want my signature?" he said rather disappointed.

"I already have it." she pulled out a replica of the previous signature. Each stroke was exactly the same. The star was in the right shape, and so was the curve of the 'B'.

"Oh." Black*Star glowed, smiling at the lady.

_So she's nice after all._

His stomach grumbled again.

"Oh yeah," he asked. "Do you have anything to eat?"

"I have a few sandwiches." The woman reached into the folds of her dress and pulled out 3 sandwiches covered in plastic wrapper. "Take one."

He peered at the three sandwiches, and then took one at random.

"The sandwich smells good, doesn't it." the lady said.

_It sure does… _Black*Star thought. He opened his mouth wide, and was about to take a bite into the sandwich and then-

"Black*Star!" his name echoed in the box, startling him. It was so sudden that he had dropped the sandwich and turned around, hand reaching for-

"Tsubaki?" his jaw dropped. "What are you-" He looked at what he was-

He wasn't holding anything.

"What-"

"Black*Star!" Tsubaki hurried over to where he was. "We have to get out of here!"

"I just- my sandwich- I-" Black*Star started.

"Who are you?" the mysterious woman interrupted. She stared at Tsubaki coldly and reached out for something in her pockets. Tsubaki in turn thrust out her hand as it transformed into the enchanted sword.

"Why are you here?" Tsubaki demanded. "Get out of Black*Star's head!"

"My head?" Black*Star said. "My _head_?"

"And why are you here?" The woman retorted.

"Tell me your name." Tsubaki said, standing in front of Black*Star. "Why are you targeting meisters?"

"What are you talking about, stupid girl?" the woman scoffed. "I don't understand you at all."

"I saw you in someone else's dreams. I saw you."

"Maka? Ms. Albarn, you mean? I simply asked her some questions-"

"You came into her sleep, and now you're in Black*Star's too." Tsubaki said angrily. "So who are you?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that." The lady smirked.

"Wait guys, what's going on?" Black*Star asked. His mind was whirling - everything was so confusing. One minute he was having lunch (maybe it was dinner) with this awesome woman-male and the next Tsubaki was right in front of him (in a sort of protective state too).

Wait. What?

"Hey, Hey! Stop ignoring me-"

And-

The world went wild-

Black then white, then black again-

Black*Star stumbled, dropping to his knees. Tsubaki pulled him back on his feet and put her arms around him in a protective position.

"Hey Tsubaki stop that! You're going to get hurt!" Black*Star yelled.

"You little brats…" the lady who offered him sandwiches rose, and he could see some funny looking energy crawl up her arms. It didn't actually look like energy though. "I won't let you get away!"

"We should get going Black*Star!" Tsubaki shouted. "Come one!"

"Where are we going?" Black*Star screeched as Tsubaki pulled him along.

"No time to explain!" Tsubaki screeched back at him. "Just come with-"

And then he saw it-

A cannon the size of a bear, massive and crackling with energy- it was the energy that the lady had just a few minutes ago.

_It's heading straight at us. _He thought. _No…_

"Eat this, Star clan boy." the woman sneered.

_Why isn't she lighting the cannon? _

_No… It's already lit!?_

So naturally, he did the only thing he could do in this situation-

"Black*Star?"

He woke up.

"What- What-" He reached out wildly for something, then grabbed ahold of the mattress. "Tsubaki watch out!" he cried, and then leapt out of his bed, pulling the blanket with him.

"No, nothing's happened," Tsubaki said soothingly. You're safe now."

"Someone was trying to kill you." he snarled. "I won't let that happen."

"Who?" Tsubaki asked, head tilted to one side.

"You know, that meister woman!"

"Meister?"

* * *

_Dreamscape 3 – Death the Kid._

_Black, like the Book of Eibon. Black, nothingness, is that considered perfect symmetry? _Kid thought to himself.

"Is anyone there? Great Black Mass?" he shouted out loud. There was no answer; only his voice echoed throughout the space around him. He tried to stand up properly instead of float there sideways, but there was no use. Floating was the only way. So, using his hands as paddles he waded around in the dark murky emptiness.

"Being alone seems refreshing," he said to himself. "But also a little depressing." He continued to wade around, kicking at the 'air'. There seemed to be no surface, nor a solid floor, which made it all the more symmetrical – right?

"Wrong." and there he heard a feminine voice, silky and smooth like his own. He made a 180-degree turn and came face to face with a somewhat aristocratic woman. One glance at her face and her was mesmerized- those facial features of hers were so perfect and symmetrical. Her two dark brown eyes were just the same, her nose was right in the middle of the face (one look and he could tell it was). Her mouth was the same, each side not wider or shorter than the other.

"May I admire your face?" Kid asked somewhat bluntly. He couldn't find any other way to say it other than that.

"Of course."

So he continued to stare.

_There must be a flaw in this woman – perhaps a misplaced hair on her brow? _He thought. He checked both of her eyebrows, only to find that they were just exactly the same. He looked down at her dress, and her necklace – they were symmetrical as well. How beautiful.

"How do you-" he choked, hiding back tears of happiness. "How do you manage to look like this? If possible, teach me how."

"I'm afraid I can't." the lady said sadly. "All my appearances are natural, I haven't really messed with them at all.

"Oh." Kid sighed. If only he could come to such perfection.

_But surely there must be a flaw in this perfect piece of artwork, there must be._

And then there-

Her hair-

It was so wild and messy, the more he stared the more it irked him. He looked at one side, then another. Her hair was messed up; it looked like she had just waken up. Part of her hair was frizzy and there were knots in it. Those knots… it made him feel queasy inside. The other part of her hair was in clumps, some bits were curly and some weren't.

Kid's eye twitched. His hands fidgeted. Sweat rolled down his face slowly, travelling down his cheek then dropping into the infinite abyss.

"Miss." he said in a dry tone. "Have you ever considered using gel?"

"No, never." she shrugged. "Why?"

"Your hair," he said casually. "Is the ugliest piece of filth I have ever laid my eyes on. No offense meant." and with that, he stalked off, head high and hands in his pockets.

"Hey, wait up!" the woman cried out, and ran after him. "I still have other things you might be interested in, such as-"

"Nothing about you interests me- PFFFT." that preposterous woman had grabbed his left cheek and was pulling him back to her.

"Lepht gohp augh mbght." Kid tried to say crossly. What he actually meant was 'Let go of me.' But then again, the woman's large mitten-claws were really getting on his nerves. That beautifully symmetrical face no longer seemed to exist from the moment Kid had taken a glance at her monstrous wild hair and fur coat. All the hairs were out of place, and if she ever wanted to look symmetrical wearing that _thing _on, it would take ages and the result would still look ugly. She had horrible taste after-all.

"I know you want to save her," the woman said. "You want to save that Crona girl, right? Just like everyone else."

"So you know about Crona, huh?" he wasn't surprised. The news had spread fairly quickly about Crona and the black [blood] moon, so almost everyone was bound to know what had happened and who the mysterious girl was.

_But why bring up this conversation so suddenly? Am I really worth her attention? That's quite flattering, I admit but still…_

"Of course I do." she smiled sweetly. "I know Medusa well. She's a good friend of mine."

"What?" Kid said astonished. "I don't believe you." he attempted to remove himself from the lady, but her hands were clenched and she had a grip like an iron fist. It hurt to move.

"Woman!" he barked. "Let go of me this instant."

"No, I won't." she narrowed her eyes.

_Goodness, even when she narrows her eyes the wrinkles are symmetrical. I wish I were born with a face like that._

"Woman, if you don't let go of me this instant I will-"

"Kid!"

"Huh?" Someone had called out his name. Someone… Who was it again?

Liz or Patty? He couldn't really tell the difference between the-

_No… Liz is older and perhaps a tad more symmetrical than Patty._

"Kid!" the voice called out again. It annoyed him slightly. If whoever was calling out his name really wanted his attention then they should have come out by now. Nevertheless, he replied with a, "Speak up!"

"DEATH THE KID!" The level of noise that came next was so sudden that it sent the mysterious lady and Kid whirling further back into the abyss of black.

"NOT SO LOUD!" Kid screamed back. "CONTROL YOUR NOISE!"

"Kid!" and suddenly two pairs of hands were reaching for him wildly. The owners of the hands were shrouded in darkness so he couldn't really tell who they were. He was about to shout out something else when suddenly the almost-not-quite symmetrical woman grabbed a hold of his shoulders and kicked back at the air. They went tumbling back into the black space. The hands started to fade away.

"Why did you do that?" Kid snapped. "They were trying to help us!"

"They were trying to help you," the woman pointed out. "But I prefer the darkness. It's refreshing and quite. Peaceful and beautiful. Look at the emptiness above and below, it just makes you want to fall asleep."  
Kid did as she said, staring at the black above him and the black below him. Unlike her though, it didn't make him feel sleepy at all. Instead, it made him feel more vibrant and on the lookout for anything solid at all.

And the more he thought about the feeling of darkness, the more scared he became of it. Yes, it was symmetrical, but not the symmetrical that he was so used to. There was nothingness, and though nothingness was indeed _sort of _symmetrical, it wasn't the symmetrical he liked.

He glanced at the floating figure of the strange woman and wondered to himself, _how did she even come here in the first place?_

"I live here." she murmured sleepily. "I live in everyone, for as long as I like."

"That is disgusting." he scoffed.

"I find it rather interesting." she chuckled.

"You and I have very different views."

"You're going to try and leave again, aren't you?" Kid nodded.

"Well then, I guess I can't stop you. Go ahead."

And with that said…

"Kid?"

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Where am I?" he blinked. Everything was blurry. What was that white blotch over there? Who was staring at him?

"Kid! Look over here!" He rubbed his eyes and slowly regained focus.

"Where…" he murmured.

Bandages. Little carts containing medicine. A lady wrapped in white. Nygus?

"The nurse room?" He sat up almost immediately-

"OW!" Liz yelped in pain. "I was right in front of you!"

"Oh, sorry about that Elizabeth. Where am I?"

"Kiddo-kun's been asleep for the past three days." Patty answered.

"WHAT!?" he screamed. "How are the paintings? Are they perfectly symmetrical, have you checked on them, what about the flower pots and the statuettes of Lord Death are they-" Patty clamped a hand on his mouth and he shut up.

"What did you see?" Liz asked. "Patty, let go of his lips will you?"

"Yessir!"

Kid waited a little, waiting for the blurriness in his head to fade.

"She knew about Crona." Kid croaked. It was the only thing he had to say.

"She knew how to save Crona."

* * *

_Far, far away. No, Medusa's place._

Medusa sighed in content and relief.

_So they still haven't found me after all. To think that I managed to stay alive after the almost fatal stabs from Ragnarok – He will pay._

She got up and went to the kitchen, taking two cups of tea and setting them on the dinner table. She then brought out her prized china teapot, watching it sleepily as it sizzled and hissed above the fire.

It took quite a while to get herself back on her feet and into a human again – That Crona girl had really done her in good – even Medusa's snake form has a dozen cuts and bruises. She had to remain inside her egg until Crona left. Then all she needed was time and a human body.

The body was the bigger problem though. Several times she had encountered many villagers trying to stab her with pitchforks and toss her in the fire but that wasn't going to happen, no it wasn't. But when she had finally gotten a hold of a child's body that was easy enough to control. She slowly transferred her soul to different ages and different people.

But this body… it still wasn't good enough.

She grimaced as she stroked the stubble on her – on his – chin. Taking control of a man's body was the only way, seeing as no man would allow a snake into their bedroom with a woman.

She scratched her hairy legs in disgust. The beautiful robes and clothing that she was so used to, it had to be changed into something completely different – oh well, soon she would seduce a woman and that would be that.

_Knock. Knock. _

"Who's there?" Medusa demanded. She – ugh, _he _– hadn't made any appointments with any rouge witch recently. It annoyed her for some unknown person to coming right up her door.

"Medusa Gorgon, Is it?" the voice on the other side asked. "You've taken quite a style to your clothing, haven't you?"

"How do you know about me?" Medusa said sharply. "And who are you?"

"I'm none other than Siesta Clandestine, Medusa. And Ms. Clandestine knows all."

"To be honest with you, I've never heard that name before." Medusa opened the door to reveal a slightly shorter than average but beautiful lady. She had a heart shaped face and lovely brown eyes, with ruffled messy hair and necklaces circled not just around her neck but on her waist, on her hands, and even on her wicked looking hat.

"I've been hibernating." Siesta beamed.

Medusa felt male hormones coming in.

_Goodness, this is why I hate men. _Medusa thought irritatingly.

"Well come in then." she – _he _\- muttered.

"Thank you." Ms. Clandestine had a voice like smooth velvet. She walked into the house rather joyously and looked about, as if she had seen this place before.

"And indeed I have." Ms. Clandestine winked and tapped her head. "Please don't try to think too much when you're speaking to me Ms – or should I say Mr? Gorgon."

"Just sit down." Medusa grumbled.

"You need a new name." Siesta chimed, stroking her wild locks of hair.

"I like the name Medusa." the snake witch protested. "It suits me well."

"Not anymore." Clandestine murmured and shook her head.

_I love how her hair floats… And those pretty little eyes. _Medusa thought. Then shook his head when he realized what he had just said (in his head). _I should have become a woman._

"Stop thinking." Clandestine blushed. "I can't help it if I read your mind. Anyway, I didn't come here for this." Siesta leaned forward, her arms touching Medusa's skin.

_You have got to be kidding me! _Medusa thought frantically. _I should never have come into this body, is this guy a pervert of something?_

"I didn't come here for this." Siesta repeated. "I came here to make a deal with you. A big one."

"Name your conditions then!"

"You're already starting to speak like a man," the witch across her laughed softly. "That's adorable."

"Name your conditions, woman!" Medusa snapped.

"I want to live here. And I want you to help me add special trinkets to my collection." she held up her hand, showing off the gleaming golden baubles. However on closer inspection, Medusa realized that they weren't golden at all – just painted with gold paint. They were actually a glowing blue.

"Are those…"

"Pretty little souls." the woman cooed. She stroked one of the trinkets adoringly.

"And what do I get in return?" Medusa said.

"You get… nothingness."

"What?" The snake witch (Or was he a wizard now?) cried out incredulously. "What kind of deal is-"

She never had time to finish your sentence, and suddenly she appeared in a space- of darkness.

"Where am I-"

"Hush…" a voice whispered. "Close your eyes."

Medusa did as asked, and closed his eyes. Slowly a feeling of comfort and safety, of happiness and satisfaction came into his head. He felt as if he was floating on clouds.

"I like this feeling." Medusa smiled happily. "I like it."

"That is what you will get. Whenever you are sad, visit me and you can spend as long as you like in here."

"Interesting…" Medusa murmured. "I think I'll accept the deal then."

"Good."

Medusa blinked, and found himself staring into the eyes of the woman across form him.

"Wait, what-"

"I call it a sort of drug." Clandestine smiled. "It's just something I can do."

"Who are you?" Medusa asked suspiciously.

"I'm Siesta Clandestine, sloth bear witch, hibernated for a few hundred years. By the way, you've accepted my deal. So… So long. I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

And suddenly she was gone, no poof, no sound, just gone in a blink of an eye.

"Happiness and satisfaction for a couple of trinkets?" Medusa thought to himself.

"I like that."

* * *

**WOAH third chapter! R&amp;R would be nice!**

**Apologies for those who read this without the update - I was in a bit of a hurry. The newer version makes more sense now, doesn't it? :)**


	4. Celebrations, discoveries, and boxers

**Hey guys, Sinistrocity here with another chapter! Thank you for the 400+ people who have been reading my story (unless of course the same people read it again and again. That's super nice too.)! **

**Your reviews and favorites feed me and motivate me, so thank you so much! (To all those who did)**

**-Sinistrocity**

**IF SOUL EATER BELONGED TO ME I WOULD KISS MYSELF. But It doesn't.**

***throws Soul Eater at Atsushi Okubo* TAKE IT, IT'S YOURS.**

**Soul Eater belongs to = Atsushi Okubo**

* * *

**Chapter 4 – The start of a celebration, discoveries, and boxers.**

"Uh…" Black*Star groaned. His head hurt from the blows that Soul had landed on his skull. Several minutes after he had thrown himself in front of Tsubaki, she quietly told him that he was dreaming. A very realistic dream. A very, might-be-true dream.

"I don't believe you." he scoffed at the mere thought of dreams coming true. That simply couldn't be done- and if it actually could be done, who would be strong enough to do that?

Well, after he had blurted out the words Soul had hit him squarely atop the head (Soul was really starting to act like his meister nowadays), causing a lump to form, and himself to go unconscious.

Now here he was, under the abnormally clean blankets and on the perfectly square mattress.

_I have great memory. _He praised himself.

Black*Star sighed, looking this way and that. His head was attached to some sort of headpiece – probably Stein's experimental equipment again. The nurse's office was so quiet and the silence bothered him; he was so used to loud noises. He also wasn't comfortable with staying in here while Tsubaki went to class instead.

_I mean, she's my weapon; I can't let her get hurt by some sort of woman-male! _The mere mention of the muscled lady in his dream made him feel sick inside. He really thought she was nice. She had accepted his signature and then made another replica to keep. She had given him delicious sandwiches that smelled really good (but he never really got to take a bite). And then the minute Tsubaki came in; she started going all crazy on them!

_What's her problem? _Black*Star thought irritatingly. _Especially that cannon. He's even more annoying. I'm going to do 50 laps around the school to prove to him that I'm way stronger than he is._

He paused. _He? That cannon is a he? How did I know?_

"Huh. It was probably my awesome brain." he whispered to himself.

"Muffluh…" Someone murmured next to him. He turned to his right and almost jumped out of the bed in shock.

There, in Shinigami-themed boxers was Death the Kid. He was snoring softly, lying almost perfectly still. His hands were stiff and next to his legs. His nose was perfectly aligned with the symmetrical lamp above him. Black*Star rolled his eyes.

"As always." he snorted.

_Hm… I'm not sure but does that mean… _He slowly turned to his left.

"Ooh, it's Maka in her baby pajamas." he sniggered. Maka's legs were splayed out and she was clutching a sort of teddy protectively. She was also snoring quietly. Black*Star had to clamp a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing. In Maka's hands was actually a small plush toy of Spirit-sama.

_So she really does care for her pervert father after all. _He thought.

"I wonder," he mused. "I wonder if they would mind if gave them an early wake up call."

"Nah, they'll be fine." he dismissed all negative thoughts, then clearing his throat twice and straightening his shirt he yelled in his loudest voice possible.

"GOOD MORNING STUDENTS!"

"AHHH!" Maka screamed and awoke with a start, her body trembling. "WHAT WAS THAT!?"

"AHAHA!" Black*Star bellowed once more. "IS THE OXYGEN IN YOUR OXYGEN TANK ADEQUTE TODAY?" Maka cringed and put her hands over her ears, hoping to shield them from the tremendous racket her friend was making.

"Maka… Chop." she said weakly. A book magically appeared above her head and she took it, slamming it against Black*Star's forehead.

"You missed." he cackled as blood ran down his forehead.

"Whacking you across the forehead is good enough for me." she scowled. "I was having a very nice dream until-"

"I WOKE YOU UP?" Black*Star laughed. Maka once again cringed and turned away from him. "Would you stop being so loud!?"

Black*Star raised a fist in triumph. "I have successfully woken up Maka _and _annoyed her. Now let's see if Kid is awake too." Both students turned to look at the still Shinigami. His snoring was as loud as ever, but he hadn't even moved a finger. Still breathing shallowly. Probably still sleeping as well.

"Aw… " Black*Star frowned. He still isn't awake yet."

"Then don't wake him." Maka said crossly. "If he wants to sleep, then let him have his sleep."

But I'm so bored!" Black*Star groaned. "I want to fight. Beat up someone. Win a match."

"Have you ever thought about the chances of losing one?" Maka muttered.

"Nope!" Black*Star said smugly. "Because I'm way to powerful to be beaten by anyone else."

"You had a match with Kid, and you tied with him." Maka pointed out.

"That was because the professor interrupted." Black*Star scoffed. "I would have won that one too if it weren't for him."

"Grhumfpull…" Kid mumbled in his sleep. Maka raised an eyebrow. "Is he trying to talk?" Her eyes wandered around and over Kid's body, looking at the perfectly symmetrical position that he was in. Suddenly she went stiff and turned around, her back facing both Black*Star and the Shinigami. "Why doesn't he have any pajamas on!? Where are his clothes!?" she squeaked.

"Those are boxers." Black*Star smirked. "They're like a replacement for girly pajamas like yours."

"Girl pajamas, huh?" Maka responded equally as cocky. "Then why do you have 'girly' pajamas on as well? Where are _your _boxers?"

"Uh…" Black*Star stammered. "I don't need boxers to look cool."

"So anyway," she said, trying to change the subject. "Did you happen to, oh I don't know, dream about something?"

"I don't dream." Black*Star shook his head, secretly crossing his fingers under the blanket covers. "Ninjas from the Star-Clan never dream. They only meditate in darkness." he crossed his legs and lifted his hands in a yoga position, with the thumbs touching the middle fingers. He closed his eyes and hummed loudly, attempting to aggravate the meister across from him even more.

"Whatever." Maka rolled her eyes. "Talking to you is almost always a waste of time anyway."

"Afshuu…" Kid sighed behind the two. Black*Star and Maka turned to glare at him – then again it wasn't really his fault for snoring.

"I'm going to wake him up." Black*Star whispered evilly.

"Quiet-Maka-Chop!" Maka whispered, and Black*Star was thrown across the room, bruises and bumps forming across his head. "I'll do it. You'll only succeed in making him beat you up."

"But he would have to be awake to do that." Black*Star said hopefully. Maka ignored him, walked over to where Kid was sleeping, and switched on the lamplight.

"Kid?" she said softly. "Wake up. It's time for school."

Kid didn't move, but his chest rose slightly, signifying that he was still very much alive. Maka quickly dropped her polite demeanor, replacing it with a rather disgruntled one.

"Kid." Maka said crossly. "Out of bed. You're like, about 30 minutes late." At the mention of that, Maka suddenly had an idea. She glanced at the clock next to him. It was exactly 7:58.

"Oh… That's why," she murmured. "You and your silly symmetrical ways are over." she took a hold of the alarm clock, setting the alarm to 7:59.

It didn't take long until the alarm clock started to ring and vibrate. Black*Star and Maka giggled silently for a moment, until they noticed that Kid still wasn't awake.

"What?" Maka stared at the unmoving figure disbelievingly. "But the alarm rang!"

"So does that mean he has an alarm clock in his head?" Black*Star whispered to her.

At that particular moment, the door burst open, to reveal Tsubaki, Soul, Liz, Patty and Nygus. Said nurse ran straight to Kid's bed, pushing along a small cart full of bandages and pharmacy items. Tsubaki rushed to Black*Star's side, and Soul to Maka. Patty made a running jump and landed onto Kid's bed, avoiding his legs and hands.

"8:00!" Patty screeched into his ear. "It's 8! Wake up, wake up!" Kid didn't move an inch. Liz leaned over and stared Kid in the face. She poked him and pulled at his cheeks but he wouldn't budge. She even flicked his eyelashes and his eye. He still didn't move. This didn't faze the Thompson sisters at all though, and they waited patiently for him to 'come back to life'.

"Let me through." Nygus said crossly. "He needs some water when he wakes up." and she placed a glass of the clear stuff on the cabinet next to him. He raised his head at the mention of water, and opened his eyes just as Nygus set the glass down.

"Wha- Why is he waking up now?" Maka spluttered. She looked down at the clock in her hand. It was exactly 8:00.

"Oh, that explains it." Black*Star said cheerfully.

"Where am I?" Kid blinked. The monitor next to him started to beep, signifying that he was now wide-awake and alert. His dull golden pupils rolled this way and that, trying to make sense of everything.

"Kid!" Liz snapped her fingers. "Look over here."

"Where…" he murmured. After a minute of staring blearily at the wall, he bounded out of bed, unaware of the weapon in front of him. "The nurse's room!" he shrieked in her ear.

"OW!" Liz yelped. "I was right in front of you and you still managed to bump into me?" He scratched his head in confusion. "Sorry about that Elizabeth. But where am I?"

"You just said it yourself – the nurse's room."

"Kid-kun, Kid-kun!" Patty crawled up the bed-sheets and sat next to Kid. "You've been asleep for the last three days!"

His reaction was terrifying. He leapt out of bed, hair shooting up in fright and arms shaking.

"WHAT!?" he screamed. "How are the paintings? Are they perfectly symmetrical, have you checked on them, what about the flower pots and the statuettes of Lord Death are they-" Patty clamped a hand on his mouth and he shut up. Soul rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, tapping a foot impatiently. "Elizabeth, just get him to spill the beans, will you?" Liz nodded.

"What did you see?" she asked Kid. "Patty, let go of his lips will you?"

"Yes sis!" Patty squealed and took her hand of his mouth. He coughed and spluttered, half embarrassed by the fact that he was half naked and in front of all his teammates. It took a minute to compose himself, slowly covering his body with the comfortable white blankets and pillows he had at his service. Finally, after a minute or two of shifting and moving bed-sheets and his mattress, he spoke.

"She knew about Crona." he croaked. The rest of the group stared in shock as he cleared his throat to say the statement a little more clearly. "She knew how to save her."

The whole group stared in silence, some with looks of shock on their faces, others with solemn façades and grimaces.

"Am I supposed to be part of this?" Nygus asked quietly. "Should I let you guys chat for a bit?" they nodded in assent and watched silently as the nurse left. As soon as the door was closed, Black*Star started to chuckle. Soul and Maka exchanged confused looks.

"I don't believe you." Black*Star laughed. "Who is this woman anyway?"

"She's a witch." Maka said coldly. "She's a rogue witch."

"Are you guys even talking about the same thing?" Liz said nervously.

"I'm sure." Maka said defiantly. "We all had the same sort of dream and I know it."

"How do you know?" Soul asked suspiciously.

"I can feel it, in here." Maka tapped her skull.

"Black*Star. Kid." she addressed both, and they turned their heads in unison. "Did you dream of floating or being in a space of grey or dark matter?"

Kid nodded. "I dreamt of floating in black space. It felt just like the time when I was in the book of Eibon."

"I felt that too. What about you, Black*Star?"

"I don't have dreams." he said simply. "And even if I did, I wouldn't-" Maka slapped him in the face.

"I know you had a dream Black*Star." Maka hissed. "So spit it out."

"Okay, okay." Black*Star said nervously, rubbing his cheek. "I was in a grey box. That's it."

"Is that all we're going to get from you?" Maka demanded. "What else was there?"

"Chill Maka." Soul took her hand and squeezed it gently. "Guys don't like telling people about dreams."

"I guess he's right, Maka." Tsubaki said. "Maybe the dream was a little embarrassing?"

"Well I don't see our new Shinigami having a problem with being embarrassing." she pointed at Kid – no, where Kid was supposed to be.

"What?" Maka looked wildly about the room. One of the only people that were still on her side was nowhere in sight.

"Where did Kid go?" the blonde meister scratched her head. "And just when I needed him to be there."

"Uh… Yoo-hoo." A cry from above turned all heads, and there he was, dangling above the group on the lamp.

"First of all, I never really said I didn't have a problem with being embarrassed. Secondly, the only symmetrical thing in this disgusting (but clean) room is this lovely little light, so I'll be staying up here if you don't mind."

Maka groaned. Lately, Kid's OCD and obsession of OCD had begun to get bigger. Since he was technically in charge of the school now, he ordered everyone to make almost everything in DWMA to be symmetrical. Chairs and desks had to be arranged to keep him satisfied, and the guillotine hall's asymmetrical blades were replaced with blades of equal sides and widths. It was a bit of a mess. A very orderly mess, but a mess nonetheless.

"Get down there Kid." Maka growled. The rest of the group cowered in fright, waiting Kid to stubbornly refuse and for her to unleash her newly upgraded quadruple Maka chop on him. Instead, he wailed and jumped down, landing back on his bed and then holding on to the nearest person. Which was Black*Star.

"Dude, you've got to be kidding me!" Black*Star grumbled. "I'm not carrying you _again_ you little-" Kid whimpered.

"The tiles on the floor are asymmetrical." he whispered in Black*Star's ear. "Another thing that needs to be fixed."

"There is no way I'm letting you-" Black*Star fumed.

"Whatever, as long as he's close to the ground that's fine with me." Maka cut him off. "Kid, hang on to him as tight as you can until he spits out what his dream was all about." said Shinigami nodded frantically.

"Anything to stay off this uneven tiled floor." he whispered.

"Why is this so important?" Black*Star demanded. "My dreams are my business!"

"Just spit them out!" Maka said sharply.

"Go ask Tsubaki then."

"M- Me?" Tsubaki stuttered. "I- I don't know."

"You were there Tsubaki." Black*Star said. "You purposely got yourself in trouble, so you better thank your high and mighty god for saving you!"

"Hai… Thank you Black*Star, but I don't know what you're talking about."

"Are you serious?"

"Hai." Tsubaki nodded. "So why don't you tell Maka and Soul? They won't laugh at you." Black*Star glared at Tsubaki for even thinking about that. But soon his glare faded into a frown.

"Okay." he grumbled, looking at the rest of the group.

"Good." Maka stared back. "Kid, you can let go of him now."

"I can't." Kid whined. "The floor."

"I'll do it." Elizabeth sighed. She grabbed Kid by the shoulders and pulled him into her arms. He didn't object, and wrapped his legs around her torso. Only then did she realize that she was holding her half-naked meister in a very awkward position.

"My god!" Liz shouted and almost let go of him. "Put some clothes on!"

"At least I'm not on the floor." he whispered to himself.

The group looked at Black*Star, waiting for him to spill the beans.

"Well?" Liz raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to hold Kid for so long, so spit it out!"

"Fine."

And then slowly but surely, he explained every little detail that he saw in his dream. The 'muscled woman-male', how she had taken his autograph and ate lunch with him, how he thought she was he nicest lady in the world until Tsubaki intervened.

"And then," he said excitedly. "A canon suddenly emerged from somewhere and it was about to shoot at us."

"WOAH!" Patty exclaimed. "That's amazing!" they high-fived each other.

"Sounds like something from a fairy tale, if you ask me." Soul said.

"It's better than nothing." Tsubaki smiled, patting Black*Star on the back. "At least he told you, right?"

"Dang right I did." Black*Star shot a look at Maka.

_You better not laugh at me._

And just to aggregate him, Maka stuck her tongue out and started to giggle.

"YOU LITTLE-" Black*Star started. Tsubaki took a hold of both his arms and tried her best to keep Black*Star where he was.

"Let me go, Tsubaki!"

"It's not very funny actually, so why is Maka laughing?" Tsubaki wondered. "Maybe it was because you upset her? Why don't you both say sorry?"

Tsubaki's earnest manner stopped the two from any further insults to take place.

"Okay, I'll stop." Maka's laughter seized, and so did Black*Star's struggling. "You've told me about your dream, so it's time I tell you mine."

She began to tell her story, where she was in the darkness ["It was a little like being inside the Kishin once again."] and where she met the witch. How she could hear Soul's voice far, far away and the hallucination before entering the dark realm. She recalled the moments where Soul was practically shouting for her, and when she saw Crona emerge from the dark, trying to reach for her, and then waking up for a short time, only to fall back asleep once more.

"How did you know the mysterious woman was a witch?" Soul asked her.

"When Crona appeared behind me, I started to sense something big. At first I didn't bother checking, I mean for goodness sake, Crona was there in front of me! And then the split second before I woke up there was this feeling of being over powered, being sucked into an abyss, and the soul wavelength I could feel from the woman was gigantic." Maka said. "She was definitely a witch – her soul protection probably slipped just before I woke up."

There was silence.

"That actually sounds less like a fairy tale." Soul said. "Hey!" Black*Star snapped, "I told you the truth, alright?" Soul held his hands up in defense. "Just saying..."

"Now." Maka said to them all. "We listen to what Death the Kid has to say about his dream."

Kid, who was still clinging on to Liz's loose shirt sighed in defeat, then asked if Liz could place him on his bed. She did so, and he began to tell them about his dream.

"I was in a black space…" the words slipped out of his mouth faster than he thought they would. Soon, his mouth was moving way to fast, and Maka almost lost track of what he was saying. Black*Star didn't even bother.

"And soshetoldmeaboutCronaandsaving her." he finished.

"WhatdidyousayKid?" Black*Star teased. "Ican'thearaword!"

"I don't like telling people about my private business." Kid mumbled. "It's my dream after all."

"Whatever." Maka dismissed his statement. "At least I heard it all." The group stared at her in awe as she whipped out her notebook and a ballpoint pen. She started to scribble down notes, and in a few minutes time she wiped the sweat of her brow and threw down her pen.

"There." she announced. "I've written down everything so now we can stick all the information together, okay?"

"Okay." Soul said simply. "Great chat, great discussion. It's time for lunch, so do any of you guys want to hang out with Maka and I?"

"I'm afraid I won't be able to join you." Kid said sadly, picking at his boxers (Yes, he still hadn't changed). "I'm planning another celebration with Liz and Patty. Their help is greatly appreciated. And compulsory." Liz and Patty opened their mouths to object, but realized that Kid would win the fight anyway (Or else he would throw a fit).

"Yeah." Patty nodded. "We gotta go. Let's head home sis!"

The trio waved goodbye and they exited the infirmary, Liz carrying Kid on the way out. Now there were only four.

"So… Can you guys come over?" Maka asked Tsubaki.

"I guess we can." Tsubaki smiled. "Would that be okay, Black*Star?"

Black*Star shrugged. "I don't see why not."

As the four headed to Maka's place, all of a sudden Soul let out a burst of laughter. The girls exchanged confused glances as Soul whispered in Black*Star's ear. Then _he _started to laugh. The boy's clutched their stomachs, ignoring the two girls' confused looks.

"Look Soul." Maka said, clearly irritated. "You better tell me what's so funny or else I'll-"

"Kid." Soul gasped for air.

'What about him?" Tsubaki asked quizzically. "Did he forget something?"

"Naked." Black*Star wheezed.

"He's got nothing but his underpants on…"

* * *

_On the way to the Death Mansion._

Death the Kid strolled casually down the street, amazed by how beautiful the symmetrical pathway looked. As he walked down the street with his twin demon weapons at his side, some passersby squinted at him strangely.

_They're probably jealous of my fabulous symmetrical hair. _He thought to himself.

"Today seems excellent, doesn't it?" he murmured to himself. He strode along, admiring the sun's beautifully shaped face and the clouds that were equally separated to create the perfect symmetrical scene that he had always dreamt of. The gentle breeze blew at his hair and – not at his shirt?

"Hm. I wonder." he frowned. "Girls! Is the wind blowing at your shirts today?"

"Obviously!" Patty cackled. "But not on yours!"

"And why would that be?" he motioned to his own shirt.

"Because-" Liz stifled a laugh. "Because you are in need of one."

He glanced down and almost jumped up in shock. He was almost completely stark naked, chest bare and skinny legs showing. He was definitely wearing shoes and socks, and pants too. But- where were the rest of his clothes?

"Liz?" he asked. "Where are my clothes?"

"Gone with the wind." Liz tittered. Patty laughed with her, and suddenly they were on their knees, hands on the ground and faces red from all the smiling they had done.

More passers-by looked at him strangely. He thought he saw a clique of girls staring at him, mouths agape. Was that saliva coming out of their mouths?

_Is that why they're staring? _He thought tentatively. He glanced down again. Yes, he was skinny. Yes, he was also strong which meant he did have a reasonable amount of muscles. And perhaps he looked handsome with those golden-honey colored eyes that shifted this way and that.

"Liz." He tapped her on the shoulder. She was still rolling around on the ground laughing. "LIZ." he said more strongly. "I need to ask you something." she stood up shakily, still laughing quietly.

"Yeah, what is it?" she said.

"Those girls." he gestured to them indirectly. "Why are they staring at me?"

"Yes, why _are _they staring at you?" she said sarcastically. "I wonder. Let's drag one of the group over here." she marched up to the clique and grabbed the hand of a redhead, dragging her back to Kid.

"Look here, pretty girl." she asked a little too sweetly. "Why were you staring at him and drooling?" the redhead blushed furiously, and tried to look away but Liz's grip only tightened, and she was forced to look Kid straight in the eyes.

"I'm sorry…" she mumbled. "I wasn't aware… It's just your… he doesn't have…" she gestured to her own clothing.

"See, Kid?" Liz turned to him. "That's why she's staring; you aren't wearing any clothes."

"I am." Kid frowned. "I'm wearing pants." he tugged at his boxers. Liz sighed exasperatedly, and her hostage turned away mumbling something about fashion designers.

"Kid." Liz sighed. "Oh dear."

"Um… I know this might be a little rude but…" the redhead's face started to match the color of her hair, slowly turning from a light red to deep crimson. "Are you into modeling?"  
Cue awkward silence. Liz stared. Kid stared. The background noise of the street slowly faded away. Finally the young Shinigami decided to break the ice.

"I have never considered modeling." Kid said slowly. "And sadly, I never will." the redhead nodded.

"Well if you change your mind, even a little bit…" she shakily handed him a card, then wrenched herself free from Liz's grip. The pitter-patter of her feet brought the street back to life and Kid and Liz watched as she clumsily ran back to her group.

Kid glanced at the card.

"Whew." he whistled. "Professional photographer, Lindsey Garett."

"Interesting." Liz smirked and nudged him. "Maybe you really _should _go into modeling."

"As if." he snorted.

"Hey Shinigami boy!" a voice from afar called to them. The redhead's friends waved at him. "My friend wants your number!"

"I don't negotiate!" Kid cried back.

"No Kid, she means your mobile phone number." Liz hissed. "Just give it to her."

"You already have a girlfriend?" the girl shouted back to him. Kid looked at her, puzzled.

"I have many girl friends!" He shouted back. "We can definitely negotiate on that!" the response that happened next was quite unexpected (for him). The supposed 'leader' of the clique suddenly let out a gasp of horror, then stormed angrily up to him and slapped him across the face.

"Oh, now I get it," she snarled. "Is that why you like walking around naked in public?"

"Wait… I don't quite understand…" he said, still bewildered.

"So are these to-" she motioned to Liz and Patty. "Are these your girlfriends as well?"

Kid knew that if he answered the next question with a bad answer, he would not leave this street alive.

Liz grabbed the angry girl's hand before he could come up with an answer to her question. "Now look here, this kid has got mental problems."

"And so you treat him like a baby by supplying him with limitless amounts of pretty girls like you?"

"He means girl. Friends. Not girlfriends. Girls that are friends with him." Liz explained. "Look, he's a very smart kid - really cool and really nice at times, but you've got to understand that he's very emotional right now. He's just lost his father, got into a serious problem with his guy friends, and forgot to slip on a pair of pants before heading home." The leader of the clique narrowed her eyes and stared at Liz, who returned that hostile stare. Finally they both dropped their gaze, and the girl let out a sigh.

"He's the Shinigami's son, right?" Liz nodded.

"He's really got mental problems?"

"OCPD and all that other stuff." Liz said sadly, shaking her head in fake despondency.

"Okay." the girl breathed. The anger that she had a few minutes ago was now gone, replaced with a more bubbly and happy personality. "Then I guess I'll let it go. Just this once." she looked at Kid. "You should thank these two for saving your sweet buttocks."

"No need." he replied smoothly. "For I have saved theirs countless of times."

"Okay, I don't know what that means but whatever!" She looked to Liz. "And by the way, what's your name?"

"Elizabeth Thompson." Liz smiled. "My little sis back there is Patty."

"I'm Cora Devine." they two girls shook hands. "And I better get going."

"See you!" the leader of the clique returned to her group and once again they started to move.

"Elizabeth?"

"What now?"

"Thank you for saving me from that horde of asymmetrical women."

"No problem."

"Kid-Kun!" Patty impaled another sausage and swallowed it in one gulp. "What are you going to do for the party?"

After the somewhat confusing and embarrassing events during their walk back to the Death Mansion, Elizabeth had suggested they go to a shopping mall to find some clothes for Kid. Sadly it didn't work out too well and… That's another story.

"Well, I'm thinking of hosting a theme-based party." Kid announced to he girls. He was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, the only ones in the shopping mall that he thought looked good enough. "Guess what the theme is."

"Hm… I dunno." Liz shrugged. "Symmetry?"

"Almost there." he winked. "It's ball gown symmetry. Everyone man must wear a symmetrical tuxedo and every woman must find a symmetrical dress."

"No, Kid." Liz said in a stern voice. "No symmetry."

"Yes symmetry."

"No."

"YES!"

"Patty!"

"YOU BETTER NOT MESS WITH SIS YA HEAR ME OR I'LL RIP YOUR GUTS OUT."

"No symmetry it is!" Kid grinned. Droplets of sweat ran down his forehead. "Normal party it is!"

"I like steam-punk." Liz smirked.

"Steam-punk it is!"

"I was just kidding," she chuckled. "Ball gowns are fine with me." Kid sighed with relief. He wolfed down the remains of his lunch. "Then let's get to work!" With that, he got up and strode out the door to the DWMA. Liz stared at him for a minute or two before dashing out the door as well, yelling at him to wait for her.

All that was left now was Patty, who was still grabbing fistfuls of grain and sausages, emptying them into her mouth.

After she was satisfied, she reached into her pocket, about to grab the keys to her bedroom when she felt something else.

"Huh?" Patty pulled out the diary on black blood. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

Now her full attention was focused on this diary. She knew she wasn't supposed to read it without sis and Kid, but she felt like breaking the rules today.

"Hm… where were we?" she opened the leaflet, scanning the pages. They longer she scanned, the more writing there seemed to be. It was really strange.

"Maybe Medusa lady is writing the stuff down as we speak." she nodded to herself. "Yeah, that seems about right."

"Ah! We were there… right?" she squinted, peering at the tiny cursive letters.

And from there, temptation took over and she began to read the leaflet once more.

"Crona is alive… I've figured out a formula… eh?"  
Patty's eyes widened and she pressed the pages against her face. There was something not quite right about this. Something funny was happening.

She had thought that the leaflet wouldn't even last a few pages, but it in fact did. The more pages she turned, the more pages there seemed to be. Suddenly ignoring the scrawled notes on the leaflet she began to flip pages furiously, until the leaflet turned into a thin looking novel. She flipped to the last page, turning the cover to see if any more magical pages would appear, but they didn't.

"That is sooo weird."

"And-" she glanced down at the last entry. "That is even weirder."

"PATTY!" She looked up and saw Liz a few feet ahead, standing in front of the open door. "You need to help too!"

"COMING!" she screamed back.

Without further ado she grabbed the leaflet, putting it into her jacket pocket, stuffed in a couple more sausages, and ran to where her sister was waiting for her.

* * *

_Maka and Soul's apartment._

"That was some delicious noodle you cooked Tsubaki!" Maka smiled.

"Unlike you." Soul whispered under his breath.

"MAKA CHOP!"

After lunch was served, the four sat down at the couch and started to discuss.

"So." Maka said. "I never really got to ask this, but how did I pass out? I remember the dream but I don't remember anything before that, besides asking Stein a few questions."

"Now that you said it, I don't think I remembered anything either." Black*Star frowned. Soul and Tsubaki looked at each other nervously before one of them spoke up.

"I guess we should tell you." Tsubaki said to her.

"Maka," Soul said. "You basically finished talking to him, we left the laboratory together, and then after we passed the graveyard you suddenly leaned over and threw up."

Maka grimaced. "I threw up."

Tsubaki nodded. "You threw up."

"Hah! What about me? What did I do?" Black*Star asked. Soul and Tsubaki sighed in unison.

"You struck a pose," the albino said. "A god-like one, I suppose."

"And then?" Black*Star said eagerly.

"You threw up too."

"Aw man!" Black*Star groaned. "I can be so sick sometimes!"

"It doesn't matter." Tsubaki said. "You both vomited at the same time, and fainted."

"We..." Soul blanched. "We didn't catch you in time." Black*Star looked at him with his mouth agape.

"So does that mean…"

"We fell into our own…" Maka faltered. Soul and Tsubaki nodded.

"GROSS!" Black*Star grinned. "I've never done that before!" Maka kept on staring, and suddenly reach out and touched her face. It was clean apart from the grease on her mouth. She suddenly felt nauseous and excused herself to the bathroom.

"What happened next?" Black*Star asked.

"We sent you to the hospital nearest to us, which was the school one-"  
"Just in time to see Elizabeth and Patty come in with Kid unconscious as well." Tsubaki added.

"That's so cool!" Black*Star yelled. "Synchronized retching!"

"It's not cool!" Maka shouted from the bathroom. She was leaning over the sink, her mouth open. She thought she felt bile rising up her throat but wasn't sure.

_Oh I wish they didn't tell me about it I feel sick…_

She washed her face again, scrubbing every inch of skin and rubbing behind her ears twice.

_Ew Ew Ew!_

"Hey." a low voice sounded behind her and she squeaked, whipping her head around and slapping the boy behind her with her long pigtails. Soul was leaning against the doorframe.

"I cleaned up the mess for you," he said. "So your face is going to be fine-"

"MAKA CHOP! You don't say that in front of a girl, you baka!" Maka said furiously, and then stepped over his body.

"I just wanted to help…" he said weakly.

The four of them spent a couple more hours doing 'nonsense things' (in Maka's opinion) such as watching a couple of TV shows, playing card games and having bets. Tsubaki and Maka watched as the boys raced each other around the compound, laughing and chatting.

Their time together was short lived, however, and soon it was time to go home.

"Well, we need to go." Tsubaki said to Maka. "Black*Star wants to train a little more before we grab dinner, and I promised him I would go cheer him on."

"Of course!" Maka smiled. "I guess we'll just have to see you tomorrow, right?"

"Yep." Tsubaki said. She hugged Maka, then went off with Black*Star. The door slammed shut and Maka stared at it in silence.

"Hey." Soul said. She ignored him, staring at the door.

"Hello?"

"We should have them over next time." she said to him. "Today was pretty fun, wasn't it?"

"Yeah." he agreed. "Even though we didn't really get anything done."

"Oh yeah." Maka frowned. "How are Kid and the Thompson sisters doing with that party?" Soul grinned. "It's a ball gown party at the DWMA as always. Wear pretty dresses tomorrow night, anyone who wants to come and aren't students or part of the DWMA need to buy tickets at the school reception."

"How did you know?" Maka watched him stunned, as he jumped onto the couch and switched on the TV. A funny crackling sound echoed around the room, and the TV screen glowed.

_"This is your Shinigami speaking!" _

"Is that Kid?" Maka said in a disbelieving voice. "It sounds like Lord Death!"

"Yep." Soul nodded. "Voice manipulation, or a computer program, most likely."

"That's impressive." Maka remarked. Soul rolled his eyes. "Anyone can do that."

_"I will be holding a ball gown party at the Death Weapon Meister Academy! If you would like to attend, please buy your tickets now at the DWMA's reception desk! Thank you!" _With that, the Shinigami mask faded to black and the television shows resumed.

"Well, now we know that there's a party going on tomorrow."

"I'll get the fire going." Maka went to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, the smell of food wafted up and around the room.

"Good night, Soul." Maka called out from her bedroom. "Don't let the bedbugs bite!"

"You too." he called back.

As she lay there among the blankets and her toys, there was only one thing that came to her head. _Crona is alive… Medusa is too. Why would she tell us that she was alive? Who is stalking me? That witch I saw in my dream… If she also appeared in Black*Star and Kid's dreams that means she's like Kim. A witch meister then. That cannon that Black*Star mentioned must be the weapon.  
__And Crona?_

"Crona?" Maka whispered to the ceiling.

"Crona, are you there?"

* * *

_The lady – whoops I meant gentleman Medusa arrives._

The dust seemed to circle around his legs as he walked, creating tiny whirlpools of grit among his shiny black boots. Navy blue arrows lined his light beige jacket, long black pants covered his muscled legs, and with his slicked back brown hair and golden-yellow eyes he seemed like the handsomest man in town. He had a spring in his step, whistling as he slowly walked up the steps to the school building. An aura of a god seemed to radiate around him, and as he talked to the receptionist the rest of the women around him seemed to glare at her with an air of jealousy surrounding them.

"I'd like to buy tickets for two." Medusa said politely. The old lady receptionist gave him a broad smile and handed him two laminated cards, with the Shinigami's skull imprinted on it.

"That'll be 80$ for each adult and 40$ for each student. Free of charge if your affiliated with the DWMA with the status of either; teacher, student, headmaster, or janitor." Medusa handed him 160$, and the receptionist gratefully accepted the money.

"Please return to the DWMA gates at 12 o clock midnight with your tickets. The guards-" she pointed to the orderly men standing in front of the school. "They will ask you for your tickets. If you do not have them, forget them, or anything like that they will ask you to leave and return with those tickets on you. Anyone who tries to sneak into the DWMA will be dealt with, so do not worry about any break-ins this twilight."

"I've got it." Medusa smiled. He tucked the tickets into his pockets and walked off, his jacket flowing behind him. The rest of the women in line sighed and watched him leave.

"What's a sophisticated young gentleman doing in this city?" the receptionist asked suspiciously. "I've never met him before but he seems so familiar."

"Oh well." she sighed. "I'm just happy that we've sold so many tickets." she looked down at all the money that she had compiled, all stuffed into three black plastic bags.

"Granny?" she turned around. Half of a Shinigami mask floated above her, and the child wearing it had a dreamy expression on his face. "How is it going?"

"Great!" the old lady replied, holding up a bag that was over-filled with money. "We're makin' a business!"

"That's excellent." the young Shinigami clasped his hands together, face glowing with pride. "I'm so glad that so many people want to participate."

Granny hesitated, unsure about whether or not she should inform him of the strange gentleman who had come here earlier.

_Might as well just tell him, just incase. _She thought.

"Young master?"

"Yes granny?" the Shinigami replied.

"A few minutes ago, I saw a very strange young gentleman walk in and ask for two tickets. He was very well dressed and perhaps came from a rich family, but I have never ever seen him before in my life. And I've lived her for a very long time."

"Oh." Kid frowned. "We don't normally have visitors here."

"You can check the hidden security mirrors incase you need to." Granny winked. Kid blinked. "I didn't even know we had them installed."

"Hey, reception lady!" a man waiting-in-line shouted. "We can't be here all day, so you better hurry up!" Granny shot him a dirty look before resuming the conversation with her 'young master'.

"Just for security purposes."

"Oh alright then, I'll go check. Don't worry it's probably a friend of ours!" Kid smiled and walked off. "The preparations are almost done, so make sure you close off the ticket booth at the right time!"

"You got it!" Granny gave him a thumbs-up and Kid went on his way.

"Two tickets huh." Kid murmured to himself. "One for an esteemed young gentleman, the other for… perhaps an esteemed young lady? His wife maybe?"  
He went back to the Shinigami's office, past the (now) symmetrical blades and the graveyards. He looked around the room carefully, eyes searching every possible nook and cranny before walking up to his giant glass mirror and checking the security glass.

_*bzzt* A young gentlemen arrives. *bzzt* dressed in a light beige jacket, arrows lining his coat. Black pants and boots._

"Arrows lining his jacket?" Kid narrowed his eyes, 'zooming in' on the man. "Why you're right, mirror."

_Arrows lining his jacket? Where have I seen that before? _The Shinigami thought. _Two arrows on his shoulder blades, two on his hips, one on each arm. _Suddenly it hit him. _MEDUSA?!_

The thought sent him stumbling backwards in shock. The name he long despised, the woman that had used her own daughter to murder countless of people, aiming to create a Kishin of madness. She snuck into Shibusen as an ordinary nurse, gaining the trust of countless of teachers and students, even the headmaster. When they found out, it was already too late for she had released the Kishin using her own creation – the black blood. Even after she was (almost) killed by the scythe user called Franken Stein, she managed to take over a young child's body and used Crona to infiltrate the DWMA and look into their secrets. When Arachne had died she absorbed her own sister and was able to get back an adult body. In the end it was her daughter who ended her life. Medusa was the cruelest, most intelligent and most ruthless woman to have ever walked the earth. It disgusted Kid to even think about it.

"No, no it can't be." he muttered to himself. "First of all, Medusa is a woman. Well, should be a woman. Second of all, I cannot just be suspicious simply because of a jacket with arrows on it."

"Still…" he trailed off, his thoughts running around wildly in his head. "I can't just…"

"Kid?" He turned to see the Thompson sisters leaning against a pillar of the guillotine hall.

"Whatcha doing?" Patty shouted. He motioned for them to come over.

"I'm watching the security mirrors. Granny noticed a peculiar young man and wanted me to check it out."

"We have security mirrors?" Liz raised an eyebrow. "Interesting, I never knew about that."

"Are there any security things in the shower-rooms then?" Patty asked excitedly. Liz looked at her in shock, then quickly composed herself, steering her little sister away from the mirror. "No Patty, there aren't any in the shower rooms. Just outside, okay?" Kid sighed, praying for their mental health. "Anyway," he continued. "I found this." he zoomed in on the suspicious gentleman, and the trio peered at him.

"Well he's definitely got taste." Liz remarked. "That jacket really suits him. And he looks pretty cute too." she flushed. "Nah, he looks hot."

Kid shot her a look. 'This-isn't-the-time-for-fashion-and-boys-!'

"Ahem." Kid cleared his throat. "I meant to look at his face."

"I'm looking at his face." Liz said dreamily.

"Look at his eyes, dammit!" Kid growled frustratingly. "Though looking at his jacket works too."

"Ooh look!" Patty shouted in delight, and pointed at the man's yellow eyes. "They look like cat eyes!"

"Or snake ones." Kid said grimly. The sisters gasped.

"Do you mean to say…" Liz trailed off, and took the mirror leaning forward to get a better look at the man. "My god, you're right! Those eyes, they look exactly like-"

"Medusa's!" Patty said happily. "We've found a culprit!"

"But wait." Liz said. "That can't possibly be Medusa."

"And why not?" Patty asked.

"Because Medusa is a woman, not a man. This guy is just unlucky, right?"

"You've got a point there, Liz." Kid agreed. "I was thinking about that as well." He frowned, scratching his head in puzzlement. "So we mustn't be so suspicious yet." The twin weapons nodded their heads in consent. Surely they should give this [perhaps] unlucky fellow another chance before deciding whether he was the actual snake witch or not. Medusa was definitely a very deceiving woman, she couldn't have been, well, _this _deceiving, right?

"However, if we give him another chance and he – for some unknown reason - is Medusa," Kid bit his lip and knitted his eyebrows. "Then we might not be as prepared."

"Don't think too much about it, Kid." Liz said. "You still have to prepare the party."

"That's that problem." Kid's frown deepened. "You see, she – he? – Has already bought tickets for two."

"Tickets for two?" Liz asked incredulously. "Is there by chance-"

"Another witch!" Patty hooted. "Another witch among us!"

"It's not funny Patty!" Liz scolded before turning to Kid. "Well, is there?" Kid paused, looking up to the ceiling before answering her question.

"No, I don't think so. And if she did manage to bring another witch it would have to be Eruka, which we can easily handle. I don't know any other witches that are either rogue or under her power… unless…" he trailed off.

"The witch you saw in your dream was probably fake, Kid!" Patty said cheerily. "What did she look like?"

"Symmetrical." Kid murmured. "With the prettiest brown eyes."

"Well then, that's settles it – just a dream. We've gotten close to defeating Medusa with Professor Stein and Spirit, and we can definitely do it again." Liz said reassuringly. He sighed in relief.

"I'm just so glad we still have them here with us. In fact, why don't we inform them about this guy?" Kid tapped the glass a few times, and suddenly the mirror revealed Spirit, who was in a bar with two women in very revealing clothes. The young Shinigami gulped and Liz unconsciously put a hand over his eyes, desperately trying to shield his eyes from the somewhat horrifying scene in the mirror ["He's too young Spirit!"]

"Spirit get your butt out of that bar now!" the older demon weapon demanded. He obliged, apologizing to his 'hot ladies and leaving the bar as well and carrying the small mirror with him.

"So, what's up?" he asked, and Liz took the hand away from Kid's face. His eyes were shut and his cheeks were slightly red. Then he opened them slowly, and saw that there were no half-naked women in sight. He carefully adjusted his Shinigami cloak and turned to stare blankly at the death scythe.

"About tonight's party… I want you and Stein to be on the lookout for an esteemed young gentleman with blond hair and arrows lining his jacket. He might not be wearing the jacket so look for a man with cat-like eyes."

"What for?" Spirit said. "This guy dangerous?"

"Just do as I say." Kid commanded.

"Not until you tell me what this is about." Spirit glared.

"Meet me at …" Kid checked his watch. "How about 6:30pm at my office? Then we'll discuss things with the rest of the Spartoi."

"The rest of the Spartoi?" Spirit said warily. "Why are they involved in this?"

"I've got a hunch." Kid said slowly. "That a witch or two might just have bought two of our tickets for the twilight ball."

"WHAT!?" Spirit shouted at them. "Are you crazy or something-"

"We don't know!" Liz cut him off. "We can't be sure if this guy is the real deal. But please, just trust Kid." The death scythe stared suspiciously at the young Shinigami for a moment, then sighed and turned away.

"I just wish I didn't get orders from a kid." Spirit muttered. "But whatever, you're the new Shinigami so I have no choice."

"Thank you." Kid said gratefully.  
"You should be." Spirit grumbled. "Now excuse me, but I have to get back to the ladies." He was about to end the call with a wave of his hand when Kid stopped him.

"Spirit-san." he said. "Have you ever considered _not _going out with these er… club women and instead spent more time with your daughter?"  
"Believe me, I've tried." Spirit sighed. "But I just can't get my precious girl to like me." and with that, the connection broke and the trio was left staring at their own reflections.

"Liz, Patty. Go inform the Spartoi to meet here at 6:30." the weapons nodded and set off at different directions, leaving Kid alone in his office staring glumly at the mirror.

"Oh father," he mumbled to himself.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

* * *

**Hi! I'm sorry this story is going really slowly. There's something wrong with my brain; It always wants to make everything detailed and informative. I also might not be able to update for the next few weeks because I have my EOY Exams coming up and I really need to study for them!**

**I'll try my best~ If you like this story click the favorite or follow button and R&amp;R would be awesome! Thanks folks, and bye!  
-Sinistrocity**


	5. Cele-cele-ce-zzZZ

**Oh my gosh I did it. Enjoy. WOOO!**

**-Sinistrocity**

**IF SOUL EATER BELONGED TO ME I WOULD KISS MYSELF. But It doesn't.**

***throws Soul Eater at Atsushi Okubo* TAKE IT, IT'S YOURS.**

**Soul Eater belongs to = Atsushi Okubo**

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Cele-Cele-Cele- ZZZ~?**

_The Spartoi are late!_

Kim Diehl checked her watch for the fiftieth time this evening. It was 6:45 and she was 15 minutes late to Shinigami-sama's meeting. No, Death the Kid's meeting. Well, he was the Shinigami now, so she might as well just call him that.

_Shinigami-sama it is then. _

She stood patiently outside her weapon's room, waiting for Jacqueline to finish dressing.

"Jackie," Kim said. "We're late~"

"Just- just wait, I can't find my skirt!" Jacqueline's muffled voice sounded from the locked door, and Kim rolled her eyes, picking at her own trousers.

"Hurry up, or Shinigami is going to kill us!" She said not so politely. Another muffled response came from the locked door but Kim chose to ignore it, and instead stared at her own reflection in the mirror across from her. She stepped forward, twirling a lock of her pinkish hair and frowning slightly. Oh, how she missed her long locks of swishy pink and her pretty little headbands… No, actually, she didn't care about them at all. The tanuki witch grinned, pulling at her sleeves and gazing into the mirror as she waited, and waited, and-

The door behind her burst open, revealing a messy Jacqueline with the strangest pair of pants Kim had ever seen. Frills lined the bottom and the top of the hot-pink trousers and there were patched green pockets at the kneecaps.

"What…" Kim raised an eyebrow, looking at her weapon in disgust. "What is that?"

"Let's go." Jackie flushed, and Kim nodded slowly in assent. She held out her hand and Jackie transformed into the well-known lantern, and then leapt out of a nearby window, hooting in delight as the lantern transformed into a broomstick figure and brought her meister up into the clouds.

* * *

Kilik Rung smoothed out his shirt, put on a belt, and redid his hair as he went out the door. He hummed to himself as he wore his socks and shoes, and then waited patiently for the Pots to finish changing.

"They seem to be taking longer than usual," he murmured. "I wonder what they're up to." He sighed and leaned against the doorframe, tapping a tune with his fingers. A few minutes later, Pot of Thunder came running to Kilik. She jumped up and down, waving her little hands to and fro, trying to get his attention.

"Hey Thunder." he smiled. "What's the problem?" She motioned to the bathroom, and her hands making funny little movements. Kilik's eyebrows furrowed and he took off his shoes. Upon nearing the bathroom he heard a very strange noise; it was a noise that sounded like the mixture of an 'Urk' and an 'Agh', and it didn't sound very good. His worried frown deepened as he knocked on the door.

"Hey Fire!" he called to the Pot. "You okay in there?" Pot of Fire squeaked in reply, and another strange sound could be heard.

"You uh…" Kilik winced as he said the sentence. "Are you feeling… constipated?" there was a sudden tug at his shirt and he looked down to see Thunder, who was shaking her head and frowning. He breathed out in relief, glad that he wouldn't have to deal with such an awkward situation.

"Is he vomiting?" he whispered to Thunder. She frowned, nodding her head slightly. _So he's vomiting, but not because of the food? _Kilik thought in his head. Suddenly it hit him.

"Earth doesn't feel good today?" he whispered. She nodded frantically and smiled, happy that he finally understood what the problem was.

"Then… why aren't you affected?" he asked her. She shrugged, and tilted her head sideways, looking at her meister with round, questioning eyes. He sighed, took a deep breath, and then opened the door. Pot of Fire was on the ground with his hands to the ground, and beside him was a pool of what looked like his breakfast. Ham, cheese, sausages, bread, and orange juice were all mixed in a sticky melted yellowish-greenish pile of ick.

Pot of Fire looked up to see his meister then frowned slightly, turning his back. Thunder ran over to him and sat in the same position, patting his back and tilting her head back, motioning to the vomit. Fire shook his head and whined, then curled up into a ball.

"Oh dear…" Kilik mumbled. "I guess I won't be on time after all."

* * *

Harvar D. Eclaire grumbled and looked at the grandfather clock again.

"Ox!" he shouted. "We're 15 minutes late!"

"I don't care!" Oxford shouted back. He had hogged the bathroom for the last ten minutes and still hadn't managed to get his 'hair horns' (as Harvar called them) in perfect shape. Once again, he dabbed his finger in gel cream and covered his hair in the stuff, making it even straighter than it was before.

"We don't have time for this!" Harvar yelled to him.

"We always have time for this!" Ox replied. Once again, he reached into the cream, this time absentmindedly putting his whole hand into the jar and started smoothing out both sides of his head.

"Okay, I think I'm almost done!" He shouted to Harvar in glee.

"About time." the weapon mumbled. He went to the front door, hurriedly put on his shoes and raced out the door.

"Wait for me!" Oxford screamed, but today, Harvar D. Éclair didn't care. He had a meeting to go to and he didn't want to be late. Harvar was one of the fastest in his class – Black*Star didn't count, he wasn't even human – and he would put that speed to some good use.

Just as he was about to raced out the door, Oxford launched himself at his weapon, grabbing a fistful of jet-black hair. For some strange reason, the other hand was still desperately trying to put the finishing touches on to his shiny hair horns.

"Let's go!" Harvar ran, fast as fast as he could, unaware of the screaming meister behind him and the unknown thing that was tugging onto his hair. Soon the noise of the street ways and roads faded away, the scenery became nothing but blurred black and light blue, and all Harvar could see was his destination. He quickly climbed up one of his neighbors' houses and leapt from roof to roof.

_Huh. It's a lot easier this way. No traffic whatsoever. _He thought to himself.

It was only when they had reached Shibusen that Harvar realized his meister had actually managed to catch up to him. He wasn't really considered athletic – well, sporty enough to land a spot on the EAT curriculum – and compared to Harvar, Ox was as slow as a slug.

So… how?

"Don't run so fast." Oxford wheezed. "I almost died there."

"How did you get here so quickly?" He said curiously. Oxford, still half dressed in his pajamas, had a hand stuck to his hair and another clinging on to Harvard's.

"I don't know…" Ox groaned, then released his grip on Harvar's head, as well as removing a few strands of hair. Only then did Harvar feel the throbbing pain on his forehead. He lifted a hand to touch the area and felt deep marks embedded there.

"Ow." Harvar winced, and rubbed the miniature bald spots on his cranium.  
"About time you said that!" his meister growled. "And did you mess with my hair cream yesterday?"

Harvar paused before answering the question. Yes, he did mess with Oxford's hair gel and cream, partly because he thought that it was annoying – after all, Oxford spent more time with a jar of cream than his best friend and weapon – and partly because it was a just huge waste of time.

Then, just yesterday the bathroom mirror had fell out of place, and almost shattered if not for Harvar's quick reflexes. Then he had gone out to buy some super strong superglue, came back to fix the mirror, and set down the glue next to the cream.

Of course he didn't care about the jar of superglue that looked exactly like the jar of hair gel/cream – save the small label at the bottom of the jar.

Harvar put his hands in his pockets, crossing his fingers and hoping that Ox didn't notice what he was doing.

"I don't recall messing around with your hair cream." he replied coolly.

Upon entering the school, a familiar face appeared – pinkish-grey short hair, narrowed eyes.

"Kim?" Harvard questioned. Said girl turned around, a grin on her face. "So I'm not the only one who's late!" she was still twirling Jacqueline in her hand.

"Why isn't Jackie in her human form?" Harvar asked.

"Don't bother." Jackie's voice sounded from the lamp. "I just don't want to." Harvar tilted his head, confused, then shrugged.

"Okay then." and with that said, he walked off to Shinigami's room.

"Hey, wait up!" Harvar grumbled. _What now? _He thought.

"Hey buddy!" A firm hand clamped onto his shoulder and the lightning weapon turned around startled, to see Kilik Rung with the Pots on each shoulder.

"Hey… You're late too? What a coincidence."  
"Earth – well, half of Earth - doesn't feel good today." Kilik said.

Harvar turned to look at the rest of his friends. "You guys coming or not?" They ignored him.

"Whatever. Let's go." the two friends continued down the hall.

"Fools!" Excalibur bellowed, and leapt on top of a stone chair to point his marbled white stick at the late group.

"Wait a minute…" Kilik narrowed his eyes, peering at Excalibur. "Isn't this Hiro's…"

"FOOLS!" He bellowed once again and pointed his cane at Kilik. "My legend dates back to the twelfth century, you know…" and thus began Excalibur's story. The two friends tuned him out absentmindedly.

"Ignore him." Harvar said. "I have a feeling he's that annoying guy that sent Death the Kid and Black*Star those cheesy pink flowers and messages that day." Kilik nodded. "Speak of the devil its…"

"Kilik! Harvar! You're 15 minutes late, but no matter." the said Shinigami smiled, and brought them in. Spirit glared at them from afar and the rest of the group waved at him.

"Where are the rest of the Spartoi?" Kid asked. Kilik pointed back to the entrance, where Kim and Ox were chatting away. Jacqueline hid behind Kim, face red and hair frizzy and messed up.

"Kim! Ox! Hurry, we've wasted 15 minutes!" Kid shouted to the rest of the group. They hurriedly went over, immediately sitting themselves down and apologizing for their extreme lateness.

"So, Shinigami." Kim grinned. "Why did you make us skip class?"

"The twilight ball." Kid said. "You remember that, don't you?" the group nodded their heads, mentally reminding themselves to buy tickets. None of them had really bothered, seeing as most of them mainly went there to eat the delicious food that DWMA served, not to sing or dance or anything like that.

"Our receptionist has sighted a mysterious man lurking around the DWMA."

"Never met him before?" Tsubaki asked. Kid nodded his head and turned to the enormous glass mirror behind him. It glowed to life and brought up the picture of the strange gentleman.

"I want you to look out for the following." Kid said, and then zoomed in on the image.

"His eyes are… very unique."

"Those eyes look like Blair's eyes." Soul muttered. Maka nodded. "Cat eyes."

"His jacket, if he happens to wear it this twilight." it was a navy blue jacket with arrows lining the shoulders and sides, as well as the torso.

Maka stared at the jacket. There was something funny about it, something she just couldn't grasp. Was it the arrows or the navy blue color, or maybe both? Could it be the shape of the arrows? They reminded her of…

"Medusa?" she whispered. Soul whipped his head around to face her, his mouth set into a shocked grimace.

"Don't." he whispered sharply to her.

"His eyes look familiar, and the jacket even more so. I don't know why but…" Black*Star stared at the picture, trying to understand why he was experiencing some sort of déjà vu.

"One more thing to notice." Kid said, and the picture enlarged, zooming into the hair. Light blonde hair, covering the ears and the neck, just above the shoulders.  
"Okay, so the guy is a blonde." Spirit said. "We need to look for a blond guy out of hundreds of other blond guys."

"No quite." Kid said. "Look closely, behind his ears." the picture enlarged even more, become slightly blurred and pixelated. But it showed enough, and the students stared in horror.

"Are those… mini braids!?" Liz shrieked. "This guy has no fashion sense at all!"

"Stop caring about fashion sense for once." Kid snapped. "What does it look like? Braids. So look for a blonde guy with braids behind his ears, cat-like eyes and a jacket with arrow patterns. Now think."

"Okay, I'm sure everyone is probably thinking the same thing as me. Doesn't this guy look like Medusa?" Ox said. "I mean, look at him! Medusa has blond hair and used to wear a big braid around her neck – this man has the weirdest little braids behind his ears. I doubt it has something to do with fashion. Her witch magic is snake magic using vector arrows – this guy has a jacket lined full of them, and has cat like, or possibly snake like eyes." The rest of the group nodded."It's too obvious, it has to be." They had all thought of the same thing, the man who looked like Medusa was starting to get even more suspicious. But if they were wrong and arrested him simply because he looked like the snake witch, then the Spartoi would get in huge trouble. What if the (supposedly) innocent man was extremely wealthy and wanted to sue them? Surely he would win; Death City had put almost all of its money into rebuilding their hometown, so how could they possibly invest in a lawyer?

"We won't catch him then." Kim's sharp voice woke the group from their cloudy thoughts, and they looked at her curiously.

"Yeah. Just like that; we won't arrest him. We'll just keep an eye on him. If he's Medusa, don't bother." she said simply.

"But what if she tries to kill us again?" Maka said. "If she was able to come back to life – after Crona killed her, then I don't see how it's possible for her to regenerate with a snap of her fingers and then stab us through the chest."

"His fingers." Soul corrected. "And he won't kill us with so many people around him."

"He, she, it doesn't matter as long as we track this man down." Kid glared at the two.

"HER." Maka shot back at Soul. "We can't just assume that the blond guy is Medusa you know."

"And we can't risk DWMA's safety." Soul replied.

"Medusa's not an idiot." Maka snapped. "She wouldn't turn into a man just because she felt like it."

"But what if she had no choice?"

"She a murderer, she does what she wants and always chooses options that don't exist. Like somehow evading her death-"

"FOR GOODNESS SAKE!" Kim roared. "SHE SAID SHE NEEDED YOU!" She stood immediately, fist poised over Maka and Soul as if she were about to slug them both. Her eyes were dark and murderous; Kim wasn't a patient woman, not at all.

_The sooner this stupid conversation ends, the better. Dammit I'm hungry. _

Silence.

"What?" Ox said. "Medusa needs Maka?" Harvar and Kilik frowned, then turned to stare at the twin-tailed meister. She in turn stared at Kim Diehl. "How did you-" she stuttered. "How did you know about-"

"I told her," Liz interrupted. "I have Kim's number on my phone."

"Why did you tell her?" Maka screeched. "It was supposed to be secret!"

"Secret from what? These guys are Spartoi too, they deserve to know." The two girls looked at each other in the eye, Maka struggling to find a proper retort and Liz daring her to. Finally Kim came between the two girls, cutting off their eye contact.

"I don't understand how it was so private, just because it has Maka's name on it." Kim said crossly. "We know who Medusa is. So maybe I don't know as much as you guys do, but Ox, Harvard, Kilik and Pots – they've been with the witch and fought for her, so I don't see why they aren't allowed to find out." Maka bit her lip, desperate to yell back a reply but she couldn't, and hung her head.

"Well then?" Kim said. "She said she needed you. She told you there was a witch watching you but she doesn't tell you. Medusa's a confusing woman I give you that, but I think she's also a little afraid as well."

"What else could Medusa be afraid of?" Maka rolled her eyes. "She's practically invincible."

"Perhaps another witch as strong as her?" Ox said. "Or maybe even stronger?"

"After all," Harvar added. "Why else would she warn you of the witch that was stalking you? You guys wouldn't have needed a warning if the witch was just a minor one like the Mizunes or Eruka Frog."

"You've got a point there." Maka said dryly. "But what if the witch isn't real? What if she doesn't need our help and she's lying to us. That's a very likely possibility too."

"Nope, it's not." A high pitched voice came from the back of the room, and Maka turned to see Patty, her legs dangling on Liz's shoulders and waving the diary jauntily in the air.

"What do you mean by that?" Maka spat. "Medusa's a wicked liar." Patty dismissed the statement and jumped off Liz's shoulders, then hurriedly went over to where the group was.

"So I was like, reading this at dinner time, and I found out that there were a lot of pages. Like, a lot." She held out the book for the others to see, and to their surprise the book had grown. At first there were only a few pages, but now it had enough pages to make a thin looking novel.

"Magic?" Kilik wondered. Patty nodded. Suddenly, without warning she started to speak. Her voice went an octave lower, and she held the black-blood diary up to her eyes.

"Now." She said in Medusa's voice. "How about we start?"

* * *

_Well, well, well. Has my diary shocked you? Are you crying because of my ridiculous statement that Crona is alive?  
I guessed so.  
As Patty (Yes, I know the girl's name I'm not stupid) reads this, you'll be wondering why I can speak to you like this, knowing that the Spartoi is here and that Spirit is standing in the corner desperately trying to get Maka's attention. Oh, and didn't you try to invite Professor Stein as well? But wait, he was busy doing experiments with Marie's stomach. Last I recall he was dreaming of cutting her stomach open~_

"WHY YOU-" Maka raised a fist over Patty, teeth clenched and eyes flashing angrily. Liz extended a hand and pushed her, sending her tumbling backwards.

"Maka, this is just Patty." Liz pleaded. "She's just reading off the diary." Maka stared at the ground in disgust. The mere thought of Stein having sadistic dreams like that – especially concerning Mrs. Marie – made her want to crush his skull to pieces. _It's a good thing he didn't come today._

A slight nod of her head allowed the younger Thompson to continue reading from the magical diary.

_For some strange reason, you aren't fazed by this peculiar magic at all. Perhaps you've already gotten used to my magic and you are no longer surprised by anything different I'm doing. And just for your information, this diary is directly connected to my brain. Every time one of you read from it I will be alerted, giving me full access to my surroundings. I can see, hear, and smell my surroundings; sort of like a third head.  
I'm not getting to the point, am I?  
I've already told you that a witch was stalking you. Luckily for you Maka, this witch doesn't want you.  
She wants Soul._

The group gasped and eyes wandered over to the said weapon. He himself was staring at Patty in surprise, instinctively raising his arms in a defensive position. Beads of sweat continuously rolled down his face, and his steady breathing turned into panicked panting.

"Why would they want me?" Soul whispered to himself. Maka looked at him concerned, then gave Patty another nod to continue.

_Yes, unlike the many people who want to go after Maka, this woman wants Soul instead. She thinks he's an interesting specimen and wants him for something very, very special.  
Unfortunately I can't tell you, because that would ruin all the fun._

["What does she look like?" Kid said. "You could at least give us that much information."]

_I'll be coming to your party so don't bother. I have a feeling you've set up a trap for me, possibly looking for me using the Spartoi as your eyes – not literally of course, only Lady Azusa can do that.  
I… I want you to meet me. Not just you, Maka, but the whole of the Spartoi. They need to hear this too, because… Because I sense something coming._

["Sense?" Maka scoffed. "Don't give me that. We know you're lying to us."]

_I sense something coming, Maka Albarn, and it no longer just about you. You aren't the main focus anymore, and this witch, this manipulative woman isn't just after Soul, but all the other-  
Oh whoops! I've said too much._

"Say what now?" Kim said, raising her head to peer curiously at Patty. "Weapons?" She threw her arms around Jackie's waist, making the girl squeak.

"There's no way I'd let that happen." she growled.

Oxford looked at his weapon, eyes shining hopefully.

_This is my chance to look brave Harvar! _His eyes said. _Act scared!_

"I can take care of myself just fine." Harvar replied out loud.

"Ha! Ox just wants it to be the other way around, so the meisters are in trouble. Then Harvar can save him, is that right?" Black*Star chortled, hand on stomach. Tsubaki gave a sigh and looked at the Liz, and gave her a polite smile.

"Please continue." she told Liz. The Thompson sister nodded, tapped Patty on the shoulder and the writing continued.

_Oh well, the information's already out so I might as well tell you what I want.  
I want to meet the Spartoi, all of them. However, in order for you guys to meet me in private I do not want any adults accompanying you. You're teens for goodness sake, and you can take care of yourselves. _

[At the mention of this, Spirit who had long been ignored from the start of the conversation, looked up. No one noticed. He craned his head closer to the group and held a hand to his ear.]

_Adults, especially male death scythes, will attract her attention and she will be attracted to their souls. This woman is… different. I strongly suggest that Spirit not come to the party at all._

[Spirit glared at the book, then suddenly his eyes widened, staring straight at Maka.

"Maka…" he whispered. "Maka's going to get hurt."

And so, he left as quickly and quietly as he could.]

_Oh dear! Time flies, doesn't it?  
The party ends at 2, is that right?  
Have fun, and meet me in the jail where Crona slept at 12:30. It should be completely sound proof, so do not worry about any intruders or spies. I might have seemed rather cruel to her, but I assure you I did what I had to do. After the party is over, I will ask you all to meet me again for another little discussion. My darling girl needs to be saved and the stalker witch needs to be stopped, so your participation would help._

"You hurt her." Maka snarled. "That's all you ever did to your daughter." And with that she stood, her tall figure shadowing Patty's. With a swoop of her hands Maka snatched the book from the weapon and tucked it in her jacket.

"I would like to keep this for now." she said. The Thompson sisters obliged.

"Dammit it's already 7…" Kilik said as he checked his watch. "And I still haven't bought a tuxedo for the party." he nodded to Pots, and they crawled up his shoulders.

"We need to leave to." Ox said to Harvar. Kim and Jackie said the same, and the four of them left in a hurry, anxious to buy their dresses and bowties before all the shops in town closed.

"We need to leave to." Soul turned Maka. "Did you buy your things?"

"I have the dress from the last party." Maka said. "I don't need to buy anything, and neither do you."

"You shouldn't have become a girl." Soul sighed, mumbling under his breath. "Come on." he reached out and grabbed hold of her cloak, dragging her out the store despite her shouts of protest.

"It's only us now." Liz said, looking around. "Come on Kid, we need to-" he wasn't there. Patty was there, her shoulder length blond hair brushing against Liz – but where was Kid?

"Kid?" Liz said, raising her voice. "We need to go!"

"He's probably already home, getting ready for the party!" Patty smiled. "We need to get some stuff too."

"Oh yeah." she reached into her pocket, pulling out an emergency credit card given to her from her meister. "Let's go buy some pretty stuff, Patty."

"Pretty, symmetrical stuff!"

* * *

_Behind the school, Spirit questions his sanity. No, of course not._

"Maka… MakamakamakaMAKA…" The elder death scythe shuddered in his thin jacket and pants. The wind was blowing hard tonight, and he had forgotten to bring any extra sweaters to keep himself warm.

"Maka… Maka… Makamakamaka!" He screeched, and then bowed before the blazing fire in front of him. He bowed one, twice and once again, three black round pieces of charcoal clutched in his hands.

"Maka cannot die..." He breathed. "Maka is invincible…MAKA-"

"The thoughts of a death scythe can be rather interesting." a silky smooth voice interrupted his 'Maka ritual' and he jumped, twirled around as his hand quickly transformed into the famous black blade.

"Who's there?" He feigned an intimidating voice, but the boy before him was not so easily tricked. Golden yellow eyes flashed in the firelight, and a worn black cloak hid the Shinigami's uniform.

"Oh, it's just you." Spirit smiled weakly. "You scared me there."

"You seem to be extremely worried about Maka's safety." Kid mused.

"Of course I am." Spirit said. "She's my daughter."

"How far would you go to protect her?" Kid said.

"As far as possible." Spirit said determinedly. "More than my limit if I can."

"Good." the Shinigami nodded, then took a piece of round charcoal from Spirit's hand, dragging it against the ground.

"I don't like Medusa," Kid said as he drew. "So I have a task for you."

"Oh wow." Spirit raised his eyebrows. "A little kid is giving me orders now."

Kid ignored him and continued to draw. "Stein already knows what's happening. He has discovered some interesting facts about a witch with a type of magic that was used to hurt Maka the other day."

"The confusion?"

Kid nodded. "She's a Sloth Bear witch, a very rare 'specific familiar'. As we already know, familiar witches usually have the basics- mouse, snake, frog, spider, etc. However, a witch with a specific type of familiar will have reached powers that are far beyond those of a regular witch."

"So this one is more powerful than Medusa?" Spirit asked. Kid hesitated before answering him.

"I'm not so sure about that. Because Medusa is already a very intelligent and manipulative individual, you understand that she is no ordinary familiar witch, in fact she has exceeded beyond ordinary, with her will to live and her sly mind she uses her powers to her limit."

"Okay, so they're on the same level?"

"I think so." Kid nods. "I have a hunch that Medusa and the witch she was talking about are working together. I also believe that the Sloth witch is the stalker."

"So Medusa hurt Maka." Spirit said. His fingers formed a fist and the two remaining charcoal balls were reduced to ashes.

"Indirectly." Kid corrected. "But yes, in a way she did. If not for Black*Star's immense wavelength she may have been stuck in that position for more than a month."

"Oh good. Remind me to thank the kid later."

"We're getting off topic."

"Whoops." Spirit looked down to see a small sketchy drawing of Stein and Spirit holding hands, Spirit partially in weapon form. He raised his eyebrows and looked at Kid curiously.

"Just take a quick look at it." Kid said crossly. "I want to wipe this off as quickly as possible." Spirit shrugged, then looked at it again. There was a woman near them as well, with the witch's soul drawn inside her stomach.

"I want you and Stein to work together. Spend a few days hunting the Sloth Bear witch." Spirit cringed at the mention of professor Stein. Sudden memories began flooding into his brain; crazed eyes boring holes into his skull, bloody scalpels beside his bed, the eerie jokes he made at night- it was too much. He closed his eyes, thinking of Maka and her pretty little pigtails.

"Do I have to work with him?"

"Yes. I have him strict orders not to hurt you in any way."

"Oh good." Spirit breathed out in relief. "In that case, I can help."

"After the twilight ball, I will contact you immediately. You will not be invited to the party. I'm sorry, but I must abide to Medusa's conditions."

"Fine." Spirit huffed. "Whatever."

"Since she never told us about sharing information after we receive it, I will give you whatever information I have that is useful to you. Use this to your advantage."

"Sure."

"I have to go." Kid stood silently, and suddenly he was gone. Spirit stared at him, mouth agape.

"What do I do now?" he mumbled.

"…"

"Makamakamaka… makamaka… MAKAAKAKAKA…"

* * *

_Party time._

"Welcome everyone!" Kid's voice boomed across the DWMA's entrance as people entered the school. "Please enjoy yourselves, eat food, drink, and dance to your heart content!" the school was buzzing with life, people chatting and dancing. Maka looked around wildly, searching for her friends. Just a minute ago she was clutching Soul's hand and suddenly he was gone, pushing his way to the food and drinks corner.

She sighed, placing her hands over her eyes. The light made her feel dizzy, and she wasn't very keen on fainting in the middle of a crowd. She tried to push her way through as well, and ended up being pushed backwards by some enormous man with gold chains strung around his neck.

"Excuse me," she said.

"Watch your step brat." the man gave her a dirty look, and then went off. She glared daggers at him until he disappeared into the crowd. _How rude._

_Oh yeah, we're supposed to mingle and look for the Medusa._

She checked her watch. It was still 12, giving her a lot of time to meet up with Tsubaki and the rest of her friends.

A sudden tug at her red dress made her turn around, almost bumping into-

"Oh, it's you Tsubaki!" Maka said delightedly. "I was looking for you. Where's Black*Star?"

"He didn't to come to the party. I have to leave soon as well – he wanted to take on a night mission to take care of a Kishin egg."

"Oh my…" Tsubaki trailed off, eyes glued to Maka's dress. "That looks beautiful."

"Thanks." she blushed. "Wasn't my pick though."

"Who's then? Don't tell me it was your father…?" At the mention of Spirit Maka's face went sour and she scoffed.

"He would never had been able to choose something like this for me. He'd probably be too focused on women's underwear." Tsubaki sighed, placing a hand on Maka's shoulder. "Don't think of him like that Maka, he's still your dad."

"He's still my pervert dad." Maka muttered. She gently lifted Tsubaki's hand off her shoulder then went to the balcony, blocking out the party's blaring music and guests. Just the mention of her father made the party seem a little gloomier.

The minute she stepped outside, the heavy weight in her chest was lifted off her. Shinigami-sama had lots of parties, but none of them were this huge and they had an abnormal amount of guests coming to the party. She sighed, leaning on the balcony and staring off into the stars. It was such a pretty night, and the moon was as round as ever, its black shape offering almost no light to the earth.

Black shapes, black blood, black things-

She clutched the pillars of the balcony, face contorted with anger. Black things annoyed her even more so, especially black blood.

"Hey Maka!" some called out. She turned around and saw Kid and the Thompson sisters waving her over. She shook her head. "I think I need some air!"  
"If you say so." Liz shrugged. Suddenly her eyes went wide and she ran over to where Maka was.

"Where did you get this?" Liz squealed, touching the dress' soft material. "This is gorgeous!"

"I um…" Maka murmured. "I bought it."

"I have to say it's very well made." Kid said, admiring the dress. "Even if it's not symmetrical it still has so much style."

"You bought this by yourself? Where?" Liz pestered her with questions, each question made her head throb and she pushed herself away from Liz.

"I bought it with-"

"Me." Liz turned around to see Soul, in a tuxedo and a red bowtie. "I got it for her. Now scram before Maka dies of embarrassment!"

"I am not-" Maka turned to him red faced.

"Fine, whatever." Liz sighed. She pulled Kid along as she went back to the ballroom. "C'mon Kid, we shouldn't interrupt these two."

"Guys!" Kid called out before he was dragged into the crowd. "Don't forget, 12:30 in the dungeons!" And he was gone.

Meister and weapon stared off into the distance, blurred vision scanning the crowd for nothing at all. Finally after a few minutes of quiet, Soul spoke.

"You like the dress?" he asked. Maka nodded. "It's lovely."

"Told you the guy was good." he smirked. Maka crossed her arms and looked away.

"I never said he was a bad shopkeeper or anything."

"Well you sure looked like it."

"The moon looks dull today." Maka said sullenly. Soul sighed, looking up at the sky as well. Ever since the Kishin was destroyed the moon had been covered in black. The black blood that Crona used to seal the Kishin away couldn't be removed form the moon, since there was a great risk that the Kishin would be sent free if that happened. Clouds circled the moon and the sky was so dark. Faint light glowed from the moon. Dying light.

"We should go." Soul looked up. Maka seemed so distant, staring into the darkness. She slowly lifted her wrist to show Soul the time.

"It's 7:25." she said wearily. "Let's go."

"We have five minutes." Soul said reassuringly. "We can stay a little longer." she seemed to ignore him and instead she lifted her other hand and reached out for the stars as if she was in a trance. She lifted her other foot and suddenly jumped on top of the balcony's rails, shocking Soul into falling backwards.

"Maka, what the hell-" he stopped as he saw her close her eyes and lean in. The balcony's railing wasn't very thin so she could still balance on it, but any farther would-

Fall.

"MAKA!" he screamed and lunged out to grab her wrist as she fell. A crack sounded and Soul winced as the hand he clutched went limp.

"AHHH!" she screamed in agony, clutching the broken arm. The trance like state she was in was gone, but now she was handing on to Soul's hand for dear life.

"I GOT YOU!" Soul grasped his hand pulling her up slowly. His legs were wrapped around the balcony's lower railing like an anchor.

"It hurts-" Maka gasped. "It hurts, it hurts-"

"SHUT UP!" Soul howled, and with a final pull he flung her back onto the balcony platform.

"AH!" She screamed as she rolled around on the floor. "IT HURTS, IT HURTS!" The guests at the party still didn't notice, and they were still dancing and singing.

"It's okay!" Soul panted, and kneeled next to her. "But what the hell was that?"

"I- I don't know…" she whimpered, pressing her hands hard against her head.

"No don't!" Soul snapped. "You'll only hurt your hand even more!" but she didn't listen, and kept her hands pressed to her head.

"It hurts," she moaned.

"Somebody, help!" Soul shouted to the crowd. "My meister broke her arm!" They didn't listen.

"HELLO?" Soul shouted. They seemed to completely ignore him, as if both him and Maka didn't even exist. Huh, that was strange.

"Where the hell is Kid?" Then it hit him. _They're at the meeting._

He checked his watch. _7:35._

"Maka…" Soul gritted his teeth, gently lifting her off the ground. "Maka you've suffered worse-"

"LET GO!" She screamed and twisted, her right arm hitting him on the jaw. He dropped her in shock, and she hit her head and went limp.

"I guess… I guess I can pick her up now." he gathered her up in his arms, pushing through the crowd to the dungeons.

_Why are the guests ignoring me? I'm sure I just screamed at them but…  
Maka, what the hell was that?  
What were you thinking? _He thought despairingly. _Why did you do that?  
Was it Medusa? Magic?  
Or- _he froze.

"Oh dear, the poor girl is hurt!" someone called from behind. "Somebody help her!"  
And suddenly the talking stopped. The clink of glasses and the tapping of feet went still. Slowly, heads turned. Dull, blank eyes stared at Soul.

"I need to get to the-" There was a shuffle of feet and suddenly he was surrounded. Women, men, children, Shibusen students surrounded him. Their dull black eyes bore holes into his skull. He tried to look away but only ended up staring into someone else's eyes. A chill went up his spine and he turned around slowly, facing the women who spoke.

"Who are you?" he whispered. "Were you invited?"

"Of course I was!" The woman smiled, holding up a ticket. Bloodstains covered one side and she looked at them in surprise. Soul instinctively held Maka closer to his chest, and-

"I'm Lady Siesta." the woman winked at him. "If you would oh so carefully drop that beautiful girl that would be nice."

* * *

_Who's late to the meeting?_

"Where is Soul?" Medusa growled under his hood. They were 20 minutes into the conversation and the meister and weapon still hadn't arrived. "And where is Maka?"

"Oxford and Harvar went to check on them." Kim said. "So they should bring them back."

"We cannot start without them!" Medusa threw his hands up in the air, exasperated and annoyed. Kid did the same, annoyed at the fact that they were late.

"If they arrive, they better arrive at 8:00." he muttered. "I'll forgive them if that happens."

Kilik poked his head out of the doorway and stared at the winding stairs that led to the doorway. "They can't have been so late… Maka wouldn't miss anything as important as this!" He looked back at the remaining Spartoi; Kid and the Thompson sisters pacing about and raging, Medusa doing the same.

"C'mon Pots." he whispered. They crawled up his back and onto his shoulders, and then he raced up the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Kilik turned around at the foot of stairs. Kim and Jackie stood there, Kim tapping her foot impatiently.

"I just want to see what's going on." Kilik replied, scratching his head. "It seems unnaturally quiet so…"

"Let's go too, Kim." Jackie said. "It won't take too long."

"Whatever." Kim shrugged, and the two joined Kilik on the search for Maka and Soul.

* * *

"I'm Lady Siesta. If you would oh so carefully drop that beautiful girl, that would be nice."

"What do we do?" Harvar whispered. "She'll notice if we charge right now." The two inched a little closer to the funny looking woman, pretending to look just as dazed and confused as the rest of the guests.

"She's the witch Medusa was talking about." Oxford said. Harvar nodded.

Ox looked over an old man's shoulder just in time to see Soul drop Maka onto the floor. His eyes rolled up to his head and he slumped forward, unconscious. High pitched laughter rang out and echoed around the room as the mysterious lady in the fur coat stepped forward, hands reaching out to-

"Now!" Oxford whispered, and the two boys ran towards 'Lady Siesta', Ox's hands outstretched. Just as they neared her Harvar transformed and Ox clutched the spear's handle, swinging it against the woman's waist with tremendous force. The spear's blade clashed against her and she was thrown across the room, shrieking as she went. She slammed into the wall, leaving a large dent and a few cracks. The duo wasted no time and they ran to Maka and Soul's side; both were unconscious.

"It's okay Ox, I got this. Step aside." Harvar said. The tips of his fingers sparked with electricity, and he used his other hand to push away the frills at Maka's dress.

"Are you performing CPR?"

"Let's just say I'm testing my weapon powers." Harvar slammed his palm down on Maka's chest and she jolted awake.

"YOUCH!" she shrieked.

"Next." Harvar grabbed Soul's pant-cuffs and pulled him closer. Another jab woke Soul with a scream and he jumped up, hands to his chest. His hair was a shocking mess – every single strand seemed to be stuck together in an upright position.

"Are you guys okay?" Oxford asked.

"Do we look okay?" Soul glared at Harvar. "And what was that for?"

"I woke you up for a fight." Harvar said coldly. "You should be grateful."

"Guys!" Maka hissed, clutching her arm. "Someone's getting up." the four watched as the woman writhed on the ground, taking her time to get back on her feet. She seemed to be almost unscathed, and there seemed to be only minor injuries and a few tears in her clothes.

"She's no ordinary lady." Soul grinned and jumped, transforming in air and spinning dramatically as Maka caught him. "She's a witch, right?"

A sudden blast of energy pushed them backwards as the witch's Soul Protect was released. The calm and collected soul that Maka saw only a few seconds ago was now a fully-fledged witch soul. It was massive, flowing with energy as it expanded and contracted every few seconds, just like a beating heart. There was something unnatural crawling around the soul; it's sharp claws piercing it. In the center of the soul stood the witch.

"I've never seen a witch soul like this one." Maka said. "It's calm but it's not at the same time."

The witch stumbled forward, hands outstretched and a face full of anger.

"That hurt." she said loudly. Her voice bounced off the walls, hollow and painful. "I don't like getting hurt. It makes everything so, so annoying."

"Then don't hit people." Maka replied. She held the death scythe in one hand while the other hung at her side. "Best way to not get hurt."

"Maka, is it…?" Soul asked. She nodded and bit her lip. The pain wasn't as bad as before, but the throbbing in her left arm made her distracted. She tried to move her fingers, but every twitch sent a throbbing pain up her arm.

"I don't need you, you little brat!" the witch cackled, pointing at Maka. "I only need the cute little boy you're holding. Oh, and that handsome one that the swirly glasses boy is holding too!" Ox squeezed the spear's hilt, determined not to let go of Harvar. Whatever she wanted with him, he did not want to know.

"You boys are going to be perfect for my collection!" she cooed, wobbling forward.

"You're not taking him!" Maka ran towards the witch, readying Soul for the first blow-  
The witch raised a hand just as Maka started to run, and suddenly the meister stopped in mid-air, and dropped to the ground. She sighed, and her eyes started to close. Her fighting stance was dropped and she fell to the floor.

"Maka!" Soul said from his scythe form. "I'm gonna-"

"NO!" Maka bellowed. Her eyes opened and she gritted her teeth, slamming her fist into the ground. More pain shot up both her arms and she bit her tongue as she sat up shakily. "Don't! She's the one Medusa was talking about!"

"I was always going to win," the witch whistled. She raised a leg over Maka's helpless body.

"No you don't!" electricity shot up the witch's spine and she howled in pain, leaping away from Maka and snarling at Oxford. He gripped Harvar once more and plunged the spearhead into her stomach, but he was too slow. She grasped the spear's long hilt with both her hands and squeezed, one hand pushing up and another pushing down.

"What the-AGH!" Harvar immediately reverted back to human form, dropping to the ground. Blood dripped from his left calf and grunted in pain.

"Harvar!" Ox cried out. He dropped to his knees and stared at the broken weapon in despair as the witch advanced towards him.

"Ha! This is a piece of cake!" the witch hooted with laughter, arms at her sides. "You meisters are so puny, you don't even know how to hold your own friends properly!"

"And who the hell are you?" the witch turned around to face Kim Diehl, with Jackie high above her head. "WOOLANTERN!" the metal lamp crashed against the witch's skull and flames engulfed her as she howled in anguish, hands shielding her face. A silhouette of the witch dancing around madly in the fire was not a very pretty sight.

"Kim!" Ox cried out. "My angel!" Kim ignored him, watching the fire burn. Suddenly she gasped, and held Jackie in front of her in another fighting stance.

"You mean she's not dead?" Maka said incredulously. "What kind of witch is she?"

The flames weren't enough. The witch emerged with a few patches of burnt skin, throwing away her coat of fur that was almost burnt to ashes.

"I can't do this alone!" she grumbled as she removed another layer of burnt clothing. "Don't even think about hurting my friends." she whipped her head around to see Kilik Rung smash Pot of Fire into her face. She spun wildly across the room, tumbling as she hit the ground. "Another one!?" she yelled as she fell.

"Where is everyone else?" Kilik shouted at Maka. "Where are all the guests?"

"Forget about the guests!" Soul called out from his scythe form. "They were never real!"

"WHAT?" Kid burst into the room, pistols in hand. "WHAT'S NOT REAL?"

"Kid!" Kilik said. "About time! Hurry up and finish off this lady!"

"What woman?" he glanced at the very angry looking stranger and narrowed his eyes. "You weren't invited."

"Of course I wasn't." the witch giggled. "But as long as I have a ticket, I can enter!" she waved the bloody ticket in the air jauntily.

"Where did you get that from?" Kid demanded. The witch shrugged. "Pulled it off some hag selling tickets the other day."

"What?" Kid blinked. His confused, startled manner was replaced by a cold hostile look and he stared at her. "What did you just say?"

"I said," the witch smirked. "I pulled this off a hag the other day. She was about to close down the ticket sale and I decided to buy a ticket! Of course, I never carry any money on me so it took a while. She was strong – but Lady Siesta is stronger."

"Did you kill her?" Kid asked. The witch shrugged. "Why should I tell you-"

"Then again, it doesn't matter now, does it?" a voice whispered in her ears. Before Siesta could react two blasts of soul energy threw her off balance. She shrieked, stumbled and shakily stood up – only to meet even more blasts of the same energy, fired off at an alarming rate. More flames burnt her hat to ashes as both pistol and lantern collided with her head.

"Stop it!" she cried out as they hit her. "I didn't even tell you-!"

"Death Cannon."

"What are you doing?" Siesta winced as she looked up to see Death the Kid stand above her, with two huge hand cannons attached to his arms. They were pressed hard against her stomach and she gulped, bracing herself for the impact. His honey colored eyes were cold and narrowed, and his mouth was set in a grimace.

"3, 2…"

"Stop." she gasped. Kid's eyes widened and suddenly he wasn't staring daggers at her but he was shell-shocked, and he glanced down-

"1-AEh!?" Patty squeaked in shock as the cannons fired, sounds filled the room and wind roared in her ears. Smoke erupted from the cannons but-

"You didn't hit me." Siesta whispered, and her desperate cries faded away. She grasped the Shinigami's legs and threw him off her.

"You have bad aim." she smirked at the Shinigami as he hit the wall.

"Kid!" Suddenly the two pistols transformed, turning into two beautiful girls. They ran to his side, pushing and poking him, slapping him too. One the of the girls stood and turned around to glare at the witch, with short blonde hair and round blue eyes.

"Oh my," Siesta murmured. "She's gorgeous."

She looked around at her surroundings. The scythe woman was on the ground, clutching her scythe tightly as more pain ran up her arm. The scythe refused to transform. _Perfect.  
_The boy with swirly glasses was dragging his weapon to a corner, blood dripping out of his wounds. The recreation witch was holding her lamp weapon tightly and guiding the bloody weapon to the corner as well. The demon pistols and the Shinigami were stuck to the wall, but there seemed to be one more-

"Don't get distracted." she turned around and Pot of Lightning pounded her in the face. Kilik Rung stood in front of her, confused and angry. "Why didn't Kid finish you off?"

"How am I supposed to know?" she shrugged. "Probably not a good shot."

"That's not possible." Kilik shifted his stance, body moving back and forwards. "He's an amazing shot. He could shoot birds out of the sky with one eye. Is it-" The Pot meister started. He stared at her face, and brought his hands up to make a square.

"Don't let your guard down!" Siesta rammed herself against him, sending them skidding across the ballroom floor. "You've got good shoes."

"Best pair in the house. Triple T!" His fists collided with her chin and she flew backwards, head crashing into the floor.

"I got it!" He said triumphantly. "Kid, you and your little disorders are going t " o be the end of you someday!"

I know." A pistol rammed into her skull and a wave of energy shot through her head, blinding her eyes. She writhed in agony and Kid stepped over to finish her off-

"You can't do it." Siesta smiled. The Shinigami froze, his eyes glued to the spot. Once again this gave her time to move out of the way, and she slid on the floor between the Shinigami's legs, pulled herself up and grabbed his shoulders, pushing him to the floor with as much force as she could muster. He crumpled face first into the marble, blood seeping through the cracks.

"What now?" Kilik muttered. He looked up and saw Siesta striding towards Ox and Kim. "Oh no you don't!" He launched himself towards her, both fists aiming for the sides of her head when-

"Coma." she said simply and held a hand up. With a sigh, Kilik dropped to the ground face first into the cement.

"Kilik!" Ox cried out, but he didn't respond. His chest did not rise.

"What the-" Ox started-

The witch raised a fist and smashed it against his skull. A bruise formed and Ox winced in pain.

"Ox!" Kim looked back at the witch, Jackie in her hand. "You little-"

The witch once again raised her fists and they came crashing down on Jacqueline.

"Ooh, this one is cute too." Siesta sighed. "But I can't fight them all!"

She stepped back and opened her mouth-

"WITCH HUNTER!" The scythe slammed against the witch and she growled, barely dodging the death scythe's deadly blow. She twisted her body out of the way as Maka swung it ferociously.

"Too much anger makes for a weak attacker!" The witch laughed and dodged yet another blow. Maka screamed once more, swinging the blade and leaving a cut on the witch's skin.

"HEY!" The witch screamed.

"IT'S NOT GOING TO WORK ON ME!" Maka took one more step raising Soul above her head. "GENIE HUNTER!" she roared, and swung the death scythe at the witch with all her might-

And wobbled, her high-heels slipping on Harvar's trail of slippery blood. Genie hunter missed Siesta by a hair and sliced through the broken chandelier, sending glass flying everywhere.

A chunk of glass flew right at Maka-

She closed her eyes it was too fast to dodge-

There was a yell-

A sickening crunch startled her and she opened her eyes. She looked down to inspect the blood that… wasn't there.

"Don't touch my meister." a voice said weakly. Her head snapped up and she looked to see Soul standing in front of her. A jagged chunk of the glass poked out from his side and she screamed as he fell forward, catching him just as he hit the ground.

"Soul…?" she whimpered.

"Just…" he gritted his teeth in pain. "Just take me somewhere safe for now."

* * *

"Ouch!" Siesta batted away the glass shards, unaware of the little cuts they made on her arms and legs. She turned around quickly to face the tanuki witch and Jacqueline, and smiled. They were so tired but so willing to fight that she might as well kill them off silently, just how she liked it. She grimaced as her eyes hovered over the lightning weapon's broken leg. Blood disgusted her, but it was one of the only ways to get things done.

"Ox!" Kim called out. "Take Jackie for me and I'll go get Kilik."

"WHAT!?" Oxford screeched. "Take her yourself!"

"HARVAR IS GOING TO DIE!" Kim roared, unconsciously flinging Jackie to the side. Flames shot out of the lantern's mouth and engulfed Siesta in more flames and the witch stumbled backwards, clawing at her burning hair.

"Harvar?" Ox looked back at Harvar. He was abnormally pale, and the small streams of blood that ran down his calf had turned into a pool of blood.

"I'm fine." Harvar said weakly. "I just need some rest."

"He's not fine." Kim snapped. "Let me save him." Ox looked up at Kim, her figure glowing and beautiful. Her short pink hair flowed in the wind and her determined smile enhanced her features even more.

"Okay." Ox breathed, staring dreamily at her face.

"Wait!" Jackie called out. "Then who will wield me?" Kim tossed Jackie over to Oxford.

"No, no, no!" Ox squeaked and caught the lantern. The weight of it almost seemed to crushed his own soul as he held the heavy lantern.

"See? Your soul wavelengths are already adjusting to each other." Kim smiled. "The blow I landed on the witch should give you more time to adjust. I'll head over to Kilik and drag him over here while you protect me."

"This isn't possible." Jackie murmured from her lamp form. "This shouldn't happen. Why is this working?"

_It's my willpower, my constant need to impress Kim. _Ox thought happily. _Oh yeah, and Jackie's obedience towards her meister. That must be it._

"You brats!" The witch batted the flames away and emerged, escaping the flames with nothing but a burnt patch of skin on the side of her cheeks. "You are going to pay for this!"

"I'm sorry, but I don't have any spare change!" Ox swung Jackie over his shoulder, and the tremendous weight of the lamp almost pulled him backwards.

"Can you use Woolantern?" Jackie said.

"I can try." was his reply. As the witch approached, he raised his arm and flung Jacqueline at Siesta. Flames shot out of her lamp mouth but this time the witch knew better. She did a neat flip, jumping over flames.

"You're even worse than that pretty witch over there." she smirked. "Pity that I have to kill her later and not now."

"I'm afraid you won't be able to kill her anytime soon," Ox said, catching Jackie in midair. "Because you see, you'll have to kill me first."

"Let's do this." Jackie nodded. Ox went still, focusing all his energy into their wavelengths.

"Dodging her while doing this is so frustrating!" Ox yelled as the sloth witch threw punches at them-

* * *

"Kilik." Kim slapped him with the back of her hand. "Kilik, wake up." he didn't respond. She cursed, half dragging him and half carrying him over to where Harvar lay.

"You first." she closed her eyes, stretching her hands and placing them gently across his leg. Harvar groaned as the magic slowly began to heal him, blood seeping back into his wounds, bones cracking as they repaired themselves.

"Ugh." Kim paused, looking away. Beads of sweat rolled down her face as she tried to catch her breath. "Sorry, just give me a minute." she wiped the sweat off her brow and turned around to face the lightning weapon. There were still bones that needed fixing, bruises that needed to be wiped out, cuts and-

"Don't think too much." Harvar said. "Just mend the bones and I'll be good as new."

"Thanks." she put her hands on his leg once more.

"I should thank _you_." The bloody cut in his leg disappeared and the pain slowly started to disappear. Harvar wiggles his toes. He couldn't see them through his shoes but it didn't hurt to move anymore. Suddenly he stood up. "I think I'm okay now."

"Get your butt back on the floor." Kim scowled, and pushed him back down. "You need to help me with him." she gestured to Kilik.

"Right." the two crawled over to him.

"Whatever that lady did to him, she did it well." Harvar frowned. "I think I can-" He held up his fingers, concentrating hard. Small sparks of electricity crackles around his fingertips. "There we go. I can't keep it up for long though."

"CPR?" Kim asked.

"Testing my powers." And he pushed his palm into Kilik's chest. A thump sounded and Kilik's chest heaved. A minute later his breathing was back to normal – but he was still unconscious.

"Well this sucks." Kim said crossly.

"That's all I can do." Harvar sighed, and leaned back. "Sorry, but I'm too exhausted to continue."

"It's fine." Kim looked up, watching as Ox and Jacqueline fought off the witch. "We'll just have to sit back and watch them roll."

* * *

"SOUL RESONANCE!" Ox and Jackie yelled. Something shifted in their wavelengths and both their souls expanded.

"It's working!" Jackie cried out. Ox grinned. With a cry he ran towards the witch as she extended another hand.

"It's not going to work! I won't allow it!" Siesta shouted. Her clenched fist met the lantern's fiery flame and a wave of energy sent both of them tumbling backwards.

"What did she do?" Ox said, stumbling backwards. The lantern's weight was pulling him down and draining his energy. He wouldn't be able to keep it up for any longer.

"Nothing." Jackie answered. "The impact blasted us apart, I think." Ox nodded. _Anything to distract me, I guess. _With another war cry he ran towards Siesta.

"Stupid brats never know when to stop." she muttered, and held out her hands.

"WOOLANTERN!" Ox jumped, aiming the lantern for the witch's skull-

"Stop!" Jackie suddenly cried out-

A sharp pain shot up his spine and he jerked backwards in the air-

Another blast of energy, stronger than the last threw him against a wall, burying him deep into the rubble.

"We're not connected enough…" Ox craned his neck, his blurred vision just making out the silhouette of the witch. He covered his face with his hands, trying to rub away the dust in his eyes. He looked up again. The scene before him was just as confusing. Rubble floated, double vision sunk in and suddenly there were three witches before him.

_We're being ambushed…_

"This is cute." Siesta smirked, and the words echoed around his head. Her foot crunched against his stomach and he was pushed further into rubble. The pain came later, slowly and hurting. _Where's Jackie?_

"Ox!" He tried to move his head to the right but it hurt to even twitch a finger. The metallic ring in her voice was there though, and that meant she was okay.

_She safe. That's good._

He closed his eyes just as the witch raised a foot to finish him off.

* * *

"Somebody help me!" Maka's cry faded away as the battle cries ensued, and there was no one there to-

"We gotcha." she looked up. The Thompson sisters waved at her.

"Where were you?" Maka laughed. "You're a little late here." tears slid down her face as she watched them carry Soul to Kim.

"Maka." Kid called.

"What?" she snapped.

"Can you walk?" he asked. She nodded and rolled her eyes. _I'm not weak._

"Good. I need you to help out Kilik and the others. I'm sorry, but you're no good here without Soul." she nodded, too upset to argue, and ran off the find the others.

"Now where was I?" Kid crept up to the witch. A drop of sweat rolled down his face and once again he reminded himself to look at her clothes and not her face.

"This is cute." he heard the witch say.

"Ox!" Another voice, a student's voice alerted him and he saw bright light. Jackie transformed, standing above Ox protectively.

"I'm on strict orders to protect him." she said.

"Oh?" the witch replied, swinging a fist. It clanged against Jackie's half transformed lamp arm and the girl glared at witch, fire in her eyes.

"You're weak." the witch spat out. "You're original meister has others to take care of and you're forced to adjust wavelengths with this fool." she gestured to Ox.

"Why are you doing this anyway?" Jackie asked. "What is your motive?"

"My motive?" Siesta shrugged. "I've been asleep for a while, and I just want to have some fun. These guys don't have a lifetime of energy after all." she casually held up a bracelet for Jackie to see.

"We're batteries?" Jackie said.

"No, you're better than that. You're a weapon, isn't that right? Only trash like them," she gestured to Ox. "Only they get used for-"

"Thanks for the info!" Siesta cried out in shock as Kid ran up to the witch and rammed into her.

"Kid?" Jackie stared dumbfounded.

"Get Ox to the recovery team!" he yelled and she nodded, dragging him away from the witch. Siesta stood, clumsily waving a hand above her head as if she was dizzy. She stumbled and dropped to the ground.

"Com-" Kid rammed his foot into her brain, and blood sprayed onto his shirt as her head hit the ground.

"Don't try it." he said. She snarled, thrashing wildly. Her hand grabbed onto his feet and she pulled, bringing him onto the ground. Another strong kick threw him off the floor as he tumbled away. Kid stood up, limping slightly as he charged at her again. She didn't even turn her back, but merely lifted a hand and grasped his arm before slamming him onto the ground.

"Why aren't you using your magic?" Kid said; his voice muffled amidst the rubble. "Aren't you the Sloth Bear witch?"

"I'm surprised you caught on that quickly." Siesta smiled. "But yes, I am that witch." she jumped, launching herself at Kid and he barely had enough time to dodge before she hit the wall.

"Your attacks." Kid said. "They're all just wild punches and kicks." he dodged another fist and flipped her over, tossing her into the air. He waited while she recovered.

"You're a smart boy." a wicked smile formed on her lips. "And I'm going to take your smart little words and crush you to a pulp before you speak another word-"

"Symmetry." Kid said, staring at the ground.

"What?" she paused, her fist poised in midair.

"You said that I would be crushed to a pulp before I spoke another word. Symmetry."

"I was exaggerating."

"Your words are not valid." he shrugged. "You're not very smart."

"You little punk." She came at him with her arms raised, and brought her elbows down to his face. He stepped back and watched as her hit the ground, creating two massive craters.

"You have no technique." he stomped on her back, pushing her deeper into the broken marble tiles.

"Shut up!" a dirt covered hand shot out, grabbing Kid's leg. With a tremendous amount of force she threw him with only one arm, and he sailed over the wreckage, crashing into another pile of rocks.

_She's too strong.  
I don't see any technique, but she doesn't even need one when she has that strength and endurance._

A sudden crash caused both him and Siesta to look up, and suddenly a flurry of blue hair collided with the sloth witch. She squeaked in surprise as they tumbled across the room, her and this unknown stranger.

The flash of an enchanted blade and the famous tattoo on blue haired boy's shoulder only meant one thing.

"YOUR HERO HAS ARRIVED!"

* * *

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while! This took me forever, but I've finally finished my exams! Hooray! I gave you guys an extra 3k because uh... I don't know.**

**I'm sorry if some of the writing is a little different, I was experimenting. I've never written about a fighting scene, and it was really hard trying to fit every character I wanted in the scene as well. I left Black*Star out because he'll be on the next chapter :P**

**R&amp;R? If you could help with the fight scene that would be really nice. :)**


	6. At the end of the day

**I DID IT.**

**IT IS COMPLETE.**

**READ AWAY.**

**DISCLAIMER: IF I OWNED SOUL EATER I WOULD KISS MYSELF. BUT I DON'T.**

***Throws Soul Eater at Atsushi Ōkubo* TAKE IT, IT'S YOURS.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: At the end of the day**

_Where am I?_

Like outer space, but no stars or planets. Like a dark and empty hole, like a room that was pitch-black and where eyes could not adjust to darkness such as this.

Kilik waded through what seemed like water, kicking at the airy space around him. He swiveled his eyes around, trying to focus on one spot in particular, a light shining in the darkness, a glint from a shiny corner-

There was no light source, but somehow he could see. Kilik looked down at himself, pinching his shoulder. The pain was far from real, and actually; he felt almost no pain at all. The meister frowned, and then slapped himself in the face.

There-

A flash, small, almost unnoticeable-

Like a small spark in an unlit fireplace, clash of stones – that one moment when he felt something. He nodded to himself. At least he could feel things.

Kilik looked around again, staring hard at the black that was in front of- and behind- him.

_Strange. _He wondered to himself. _Where am I?_

"Hello?" He said uncertainly. "Is anyone there?"  
It was then when he realized that he could hear nothing at all. With a slight gasp of surprise he lifted a finger to his lips.

"Huh." He said again. Nothing came out, really, but he could feel himself mouthing the word, trying to say it.

_No vibrations? _He questioned himself. _No nearby walls- No walls at all?_

Not possible. He shook his head and suddenly a feeling in his gut told him to keep 'swimming'. With a mighty kick he sent himself hurling into the space-

_But am I really going anywhere? How do I know I'm moving?_

Kilik shook his head once more, this time uncertainly using a hand to wade through what seemed like invisible water.

_Where am I? _ He asked himself again. _Where am I?_

His questions were left unanswered.

"Let me out." he tried to shout. "Let me out of here."

"Let me out." he screamed.

"Let me out, let me out."

Over and over again, silently screaming and suddenly his hands were trying to bang against invisible walls.

Because how was one supposed to keep calm in a place where darkness filled all, where no sounds could be heard, where nothing but himself could be seen?

* * *

_"What the hell just hit me?" – quote Siesta Clandestine_

"YOUR HERO HAS ARRIVED!" Siesta screamed in surprise as a blue-haired boy crashed into her and they both tumbled across the debris. Another scream came from the witch's mouth as he whipped out his sword, a beautiful black blade-

"ACK!" A look of intense pain flashed across her face for a second as Black*Star plunged the sword deep into her arm. Blood splattered the ground and the boy laughed.

"Great job Black*Star!" the enchanted blade said. Tsubaki's face came into view and she beamed at her meister. "We timed it just right!"

"Hey guys, look!" Black*Star waved to the group. "Check it out, I got her!"

"B-But- But how?" Death the Kid stared at them from afar, dumbfounded as the impossible-to-defeat opponent writhed beneath Black*Star's grip. The more she thrashed, the more blood seemed to spill from the gaping wound on her left arm. Tsubaki winced in her weapon form as a drop of blood splattered onto her soft hilt. Finally, Maka stepped forward, slamming her foot into the witch's skull. A shudder ran throughout Siesta's body before she went unconscious.

_You deserve it. _Maka thought.

"We've been looking at you guys from above." Tsubaki's voice brought her back to reality, and the scythe meister looked up, a little surprised. From above? Didn't that mean…  
Oxford said, "Why didn't you help?"  
"If we came down it would only raise her guard. We needed you as a distraction so we would find a perfect opening." Maka nodded, making sense of the situation. This was definitely Tsubaki's plan. The blue haired idiot couldn't have possibly planned something like this. Maka marveled at the thought of Tsubaki persuading Black*Star to wait patiently until the time was right.

The rest of the Spartoi slowly came forward, uncertain if the witch really was caught.

"Tsubaki and I just saved you!" Black*Star beamed. "From whoever this is! So you better thank m- I mean, us!"

Maka raised her weapon, ready for the witch to jump up and attack them. Black*Star was abnormally strong, but so was this woman. If she caught them off guard…

"We should really be more careful," she said. Black*Star scoffed in reply. "You just don't believe that I could get her that easily!"

"Is she dead?" Kim called out. She and Harvar decided to stay by Kilik's side. The pot meister still hadn't woken up, and the only sign that told them he was living was the telltale rise and fall of his chest.

"Guys, step back!" Maka ordered. The satisfaction that she was feeling just moments ago suddenly vanished. She felt something was off, and so she herself grabbed the nearest person next to her (Oxford) and pulled him away.

"EEK!" Jackie squeaked as she saw blurred movement come from the Sloth Bear witch.

"GET BACK!" Maka roared and stumbled backwards, scythe in front of her.

The witch snarled, and suddenly, with immense strength she grabbed Black*Star's shirt, flinging him into the crowd of meisters. Black*Star's head collided with Kid's own cranium and they crashed into the ground.

"WHY YOU?" Kid screamed as he pushed Black*Star off of him and scrambled to his feet. After the short fight with Siesta his head was still spinning and his eyesight still a little blurry. Sure he was a Shinigami, but this witch's power was abnormal to the extreme.

The blue haired boy simply looked at the witch in confusion.

_Tsubaki and I really did time it right. The wound and the scrapes and the bashing should have rendered her unconscious._

The rest of the Spartoi quickly jumped back and circled the witch from afar. Liz turned back to human form whilst clutching Patty in her hands, and Oxford raised Jackie high in the air, ready to launch another flame ball into Siesta's mouth. They acted somewhat on instinct, as if the fight was never really over, but they were just waiting for the Sloth Bear witch to wake up. The synchronized shifting of feet and sudden reach for weapons made it seem almost like the surprised reactions were nothing but a bunch of faux astonishment.

Maka Albarn bit her lip as she clenched her famous death scythe.

"Hang in there, Soul." Maka said to him. "Just a little more to go." He nodded before disappearing from the scythe's dirty blade.

"We'll cover you for now." Ox said. His mind had cleared. There was only one witch that needed to die today. The lightning meister swung Jackie with all his might, roaring flames burning the witch's skin of. She didn't scream this time, but merely grinned, masking her pain with a look of malice. Unbeknownst to the lightning meister, she started to reach for Jackie. Her flames sizzled on the witch's bloody skin.  
"SOUL RESONANCE!" Maka and Soul yelled, and what was left of their adrenaline increased. Maka's soul expanded, she felt as if she was soaring through the clouds, her heart beating so fast she almost thought it would burst. She looked to Kid and Black*Star and they nodded to her, arms raised incase the witch decided to escape.

With that, she ran towards the woman once again – teeth clenched, the pain in her arm numbed, with the strength and energy Soul seemed to emit from his weapon form. Anger, no longer wild but controlled, right along the edges of Soul's blade. Just thinking of the clean slicing sound made Maka satisfied. She yelled, one last war cry from an exhausted meister.

"WITCH HUNTER!" And as the death scythe came crashing down, Ox and Jackie leapt backwards, shielding themselves from the upcoming blast.

But the sounds that came next did not please her at all. The sound of a sword clashing against sword, the feeling of intense pain surging through her limbs, the sound of a heart-wrenching scream as Siesta Clandestine raised an arm to deflect her attack once again.

Maka looked up with a shocked expression on her face. Soul reappeared on the scythe blade as they both looked at what the witch had done.

"T-Tsu-" Black*Star stuttered. "Tsu-"

"Oh yes, you forgot your plaything." the witch smiled, slowly pulling the blade out of her bloody skin. The series of squelches that followed were so unpleasant that even Siesta herself grimaced, but nevertheless, she took the sword by the hilt and pulled it out. Blood was dripping from the open wound but she ignored it.

"I'll take care of her." Ox said again, swinging Jackie around. He was about to run towards the witch when Soul reached out a hand from his weapon form and stopped him.

"You'll close the wound if you do that Ox." the death scythe said. "Not like you want to but I mean, burning herself is the closest thing to healing that she's going to get. As soon as you get close, I'm betting she'll grab Jackie out of the blue and use her fire to seal her wound. Something like that might happen, y'know."

"Huh. I didn't think about that." Ox muttered. "I see I'm no use here without Harvar."

"You can still help." Maka mumbled. The witch was getting suspicious and began advancing towards them. "A distraction, I suppose."

Oxford nodded. "While you swing your scythe through her abdomen."

* * *

Kim and Harvar watched as the rest of the Spartoi fought the witch. Kilik was sound asleep beside them, completely unaware of the chaos occurring around him.

"I don't feel right." Harvar grunted. "We should help."

"We don't need to." Kim muttered. "They seem to already have maintained control of the situation." she watched Maka as she charged towards the witch again, trying to avoid her blade-friend. Elizabeth and her sister ran to and fro, looking for blind spots and trying to get good aim at the witch- but it seemed as if Siesta could dodge bullets too.

"Can you tell what kind of witch she is?" Harvar asked. "Her witch type? I mean, you're for recovery and the most of the witches seem to be for offense but there's bound to be more categories than that."

"Not really." Kim said. "But I can tell that her familiar is definitely something rare. A bear, by the looks of it."

Harvar stared at Kim in astonishment. _That was very accurate. _He thought to himself.

"How can you tell?" he asked.  
"All witches have an aura– and only us witches can see it. It's something that appears around the area the witch uses most with her powers." she replied.

"For example?"

"Well if you remember Medusa, she used arrow magic, mostly through her tattoos. In that case her aura would revolve around her arms."

"And yours would be around your hands and fingers." Harvar added. "Am I right?" Kim nodded. A sudden crash to their left turn both their heads and they watched as Liz and Patty hit the ground, and Liz turned herself into a pistol as Kid picked up both of the guns. They turned away.

"And what about the aura itself?" Harvar asked.

"An aura looks like a white blurry mist. Oh, and the aura also circles symbols of a witch's familiar."

"How so?"

"Well as you saw, when I showed my witch form I grew out a tanuki's tail. The aura would surround that particular area."  
Harvar nodded, and then turned his head to inspect the witch a bit more. It irked him to know that he needed to stay behind and guard his friend when he could be out on the battlefield with Ox.

The two kept their eyes on the battle-scene as they talked, but occasionally looked back to Kilik to check his condition. They watched as the witch flung meisters aside and tried to reach out for their weapons.

Kim felt her fingers twitch. Jackie didn't feel right in Ox's hands. The uncontrollable urge to wrap her fingers around her weapons hilt was getting stronger.

"Harvar," Kim said. "Don't you think we've done enough sitting around?"  
"What are you suggesting?" Harvar said suspiciously. He watched as Kim slowly stood up.

"Let's get out there, Ox-and-Jackie style."

* * *

The pain Tsubaki felt was unbearable. Her soul felt as if it was being ripped apart by this monstrous woman, this woman who could somehow hold her, use her to block one of Maka's strongest attacks.

If only she could transform, maybe slip out of the witch's grasp and run back to Black*Star- no, the woman would probably be faster than her.

The witch examined the smoothness of Tsubaki's weapon form, and as she ran her fingers across the blade the weapon felt nails digging into her skin.

She tried to scream, tried to revert back to her human form but the more she tried the stronger the witch seemed to become. Inhumane strength, almost a sort of numbness to pain, no guilt in her brain, like a killing machine.

"You know." Siesta stared. "I could get used to this girl."

"Why-" Tsubaki almost couldn't get the words out of her mouth. "Why can you touch me?" The witch shrugged.

"Just a thing I do." she answered. Tsubaki used her last ounce of strength to close her eyes and concentrate on the sounds of their wavelengths.

It wasn't possible for the witch to just- hold her like that. Her wavelength was everywhere, wild and clumsy while the witch's was completely and utterly calm, collected and a nice, straight line.

And amidst all the pain and torture she was going through, Tsubaki opened her eyes, controlled her screams and thought.

"Hm." Tsubaki frowned. "A nice straight line."

* * *

"TSUBAKI!" Black*Star roared as he went straight for the witch. She grinned as he flung Oxford to the side, leaving the meister and his temporary weapon sailing across the air.

"Hey!" Ox cried out. "What was that for!?" the lightning meister looked behind him and his eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of the deadly glass shards form the broken chandelier below. Oxford desperately tried to twist out the way-

A blur of black clashed into him and he was thrown to the side, tumbling onto safe ground.

"Don't mention it." The Shinigami answered before Ox could thank him.

* * *

"YOU'RE IN THE WAY!" Black*Star picked up Maka by the collar of her shirt and tossed her into the air.

"HEY!" She yelled. As she hit the ground, Soul reverted back to human form and crumpled to the floor.

"Thank goodness Kim healed me." He grunted. "If she didn't…"

Maka watched as the young Shinigami ran towards the witch, do a flip in mid-air whilst firing bullet after bullet at the witch's back. But the thick fur coat covered that, and the coat seemed to be more than just patches of fur. She aimed a kick at the young Shinigami who twisted just out of reach, turned around to see Black*Star rampaging forward-

Who ran at the witch launching a series of pushes and kicks but every hit she took only made her resist the next one. Siesta could sense the furious meister's aura radiating an angry, angry red. She smiled at the thought of breaking his precious plaything-

"So." The witch smiled, leaping back to avoid Black*Star's wild kick. "Let's play a little game."  
"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR GAMES!" The boy roared, jumping into the air and launching a kick from above. He was fast, she granted, but perhaps not fast enough. The Sloth Bear witch sidestepped and grabbed him in mid air, her fingers brushing against his shirt. She grinned and quickly took hold of the cloth, bringing him to the ground and breaking the floor.

"AHHH!" Black*Star leapt to his feet, his eyes wild with anger and blood running down his forehead. The witch staggered away from him-

A roar sounded. A roar, wild and animal like, echoing throughout what was left of the DWMA celebration hall.

"What the hell?" she heard someone mutter.

* * *

_Cannonball!_

"Slumber, I really don't have time for you right now." Siesta Clandestine growled impatiently, her fingers twitching for a real fight. Nevertheless, the roar continued to echo throughout the hall, and for a moment the students of Shibusen were silent, looking around to find the source of the noise.

And in the dark, a pair of glowing bright blue eyes emerged.

"Slumber, go-" before the witch could finish her sentence Black*Star's fist smashed into her nose, and before she could even react to the pain and blood shooting from the broken bones he took her by the hair and punched her in the gut several times over. Siesta howled in pain, but still, she gripped the sword in her hand, not daring to let go. As he kicked her once more, she grabbed at him wildly, finding a fistful of clothing and flung him over her shoulder- but he only landed on his feet once more, yelling a war cry and charging towards her with his bare hands.  
"Brats." Siesta growled, blood dripping down her left nostril. As she deflected one of his punches she heard a faint humming come from her neck. She gasped in shock, and for a moment she seemed to have lost her iron grip on the enchanted blade. Black*Star took his chance, reached out to grab Tsubaki by the blade, and finally-

"You're dead, witch." he growled. He took a step forward, the glass shards crunching beneath his feet. He pressed his arms near his chest and in one final moment pushed forward-

* * *

"SOUL WAVELENGTH!" she heard him roar, and after that the sound of crackling energy blasted in her ears. It was incredible, like a thousand souls ringing in her ear, the sound of chimes multiplied by the thousand, and kanji around her began to swell and rise from the ground. As she flew through the air, she turned and met the demonic eyes of the lone survivor from Star Clan.

_Hm. _And even through her bloody, beaten up face she found within herself a wicked smile.  
_It seems as though he could still sway from his own path…_

_And to the one of the demon._

* * *

_My mother is hurt. _

_I can smell her blood on her skin._

_I could taste it from a hundred miles away._

_*Sniff* the weapons, so fragile and hurt-_

_So easy to reach out and grab and rip-_

_Rip rip rip rip-_

_Guts, guts for mother-_

_Blood, blood for mother-_

_But mother is hurt._

_I must. __I must protect._

_I must protect her._

_Who is the boy?_

_Stay away from mother._

_Don't hurt her._

_What have you done?_

_What have you done to my mother-_

_You will pay, you will pay you will pay-_

_You will die._

_You will die._

* * *

_Tsubaki?_

Tsubaki the enchanted demon blade slipped from Siesta's sweaty fingers and felt Black*Star's fingers grab the edge of the blade. He tossed her aside and didn't stop to watch as she desperately reverted back to human form and hit the ground with a thud. As she scrambled to her feet she watched as her meister stepped forward to deliver another final blow to the witch-

And then something came between the two of them, heavy and loud and blasting them apart. Black*Star skidded across the marble floor and Tsubaki rushed to meet him, grabbing his hand to pull him to his feet-

The sound of a roar so wild and angry, the rising black shadow from the smoke.

"I thought," Tsubaki heard the witch say. "That the girl would be mine." She turned her head slowly to see the witch stand and hobble towards the great beast.

"I was this close-" She stood by the shadow's side. "This close to getting her on my side."

"Well you didn't!" Black*Star shot back. So beat it!"

"Oh, we won't 'beat it' just yet." even behind the smoke all of the Spartoi knew that she was smiling.

"I've still got one more surprise to show you before this party's over." The smoke cleared, and the first thing Tsubaki saw was its head. A bear, not massive in size but it definitely looked threatening. It wasn't a black bear, a little smaller than that.

The smoke finally parted and the bear moved forward.

"Wait a minute." Black*Star backed away slowly. Something came to mind, something about this picture looked familiar.

_Déjà vu? _He thought.

"Tsubaki…" he said slowly. "Get out of here."

"No!" his weapon said stubbornly. "I can't abandon my meister here- you know that that's DWMA's golden rule."

"Well I don't care!" Black*Star pushed her back. The bear suddenly grew in size, it's mouth forming an 'O' shape. It leaned forward, hackles raised. The witch put a hand across the bear's broad back and smiled.

"I can't believe you didn't notice sooner," she said to Black*Star. "Because it really was pretty obvious."

The beast roared another mighty roar, but this time it also began to glow a bright blue, and what happened next was something that no meister or weapon had expected.

"Is the thing…" Soul said slowly. "Transforming?"

"IT'S THE MEISTER!" Black*Star bellowed to the other Spartoi. "THIS WITCH IS THE MEISTER I SAW IN MY DREAM!" And all of a sudden, the memories of the disturbing dream surfaced.

"Meister!?" Maka said incredulously.

The glowing blue light rose like a floating liquid and gently circled the witch Siesta's arm, expanding into something two times her size. Spartoi after Spartoi watched slowly, unable to take their eyes off the majestic transformation happening before their eyes.

"Gotcha." Siesta wasn't over yet.

She was going to win, wasn't she?

* * *

"We'll be back before you know it, Killik." Harvar said to the sleeping Pot meister. His two weapons lay beside him in their weapon forms, presumably also asleep.

"It'll only take a few seconds." Kim whispered. She clenched the lightning spear tightly in her hand.

_"We can't do that!" Harvar shouted over the gunshots and noise. "It only worked for Ox and Jackie because they believed in you!"_

_ "And you're saying you don't believe in me?" Kim pouted. "A real shame, that is." She reached out to take Harvar's hand. She could feel his wavelength stirring deep inside._

_"We could try it," she said. "It wouldn't hurt to try."_

_ "Actually it would." Harvar pointed out. _

_"Please Harvar." Kim said. "Don't _you _want to get out there and fight?" The lightning spear hesitated. He did want to get out there. He wanted to strike the witch, send a bolt of lightning down her spine, maybe even land a killing blow._

_"Couldn't we just switch partners quickly?" he asked, pointing to Ox and Jackie. They dodged a fist from the witch and Jackie lightly touched her legs, sending wisps of fire to catch onto her clothes. She was burning, but all she did to prevent herself from catching on fire was to snatch the flame and rip the burning cloth of her. It worked surprisingly well, and she managed to do this even while fighting two other meisters- Maka and Kid._

_"Just look at them Harvar." she said. "They're too preoccupied to stop and switch. It's not a 'grab and go' sort of thing."_

_"You just want to know how it feels." Harvar said suddenly._

_"What?"_

_ "You saw Oxford. He tried to use Woolantern and it didn't work, but he could use your fireball trick and your sticky-flame trick."_

_ "Sorry but… sticky-flame?" Kim wrinkled her nose. "What is that?"_

_ "When you bring Jackie to the floor and close your eyes, then spin in a 360 degree circle. The flames shoot right up and stay where they are." Harvar explained. He pointed at Ox and Jackie once more. "He doesn't know it, but I've saw him do it twice already on the battlefield." Kim paused, looking at Harvar strangely before speaking._

_"Alright then. I'll admit it: I do want to know how that feels." Kim replied. "I've used a spear before in training, so I roughly know how it works."_

_"I might hurt you though," he said softly. "What would Ox say to that?"_

_"Ox?" Kim laughed. "He knows what I'm like."_

_"Determined, strong-willed, sometimes arrogant, but very beautiful." Harvar sighed. "He says it in his sleep every single night."_

_"I'm not surprised." Kim scoffed, and desperately tried to hide the rising blush in her cheeks. _

_Suddenly bright light engulfed Harvar and Kim watched as he transformed into the lightning spear, dropping to the floor with a clatter. __"Well?" he said to the astonished Kim. She looked at him for while, and then a smile spread slowly across her face. She bent down and slowly reached out to touch the spear-_

_ZZSTIKC- __There, just then a spark went up Kim's arm and she jolted._

_"Are you alright?" Harvar called from the spearhead._

_"I'm fine." she retracted her hand and looked at it curiously. "It- it didn't hurt, it was more like something running up my arm or something." the spark was still there, but instead she felt it travel to her chest, then splitting off in different directions. It was strange, something she had never experienced in her life. The energy continued to travel inside her body, until she could feel her whole body tingling. Something told her that Harvar's wavelength wouldn't interfere with her own at all._

_"Kim?" Harvar asked. "Hello?"_

_"I'll need to ask Ox something when we're done with this witch fight." she breathed, then stooped down to grab the spear._

_"Wow." he said after a few seconds. "I think we're good to go."_

"It's only been about 5 minutes." Kim said as she clenched the spear. "And look at the mess they're in now." The meister and weapon looked on at the scene before them- Black*Star standing in front of Tsubaki and the rest of the Spartoi while a smoke screen covered the witch and her pet. They seemed to completely ignore Kim and Harvar. It was quite weird, really.

"You were right about the bear," he said. "Though it doesn't look like how I imagined it to be."

Kim slowly crept towards the battle scene- avoiding the rest of her friends and the beast.

The tanuki witch continued to creep until the smoke screen started to fade. She crouched down and inched forward a little more, getting behind the witch. She slowly crawled forward. The noise the bear was making was quite loud, and the witch didn't seem to notice two other meisters behind her.

Kim raised the spear and prepared to launch-

* * *

_Lock position._

_Slumber is positioned. __Slumber is ready._

_Slumber will attack._

_Jaw open, e__yes on target._

_Ready?_

_Mother, are you ready?_

_I am ready._

"Good children," the witch cooed. "Good children. Gaze into the light, gaze like you've never seen it before. Is it not beautiful?" Her hands were outstretched and shaking, drops of sweat sliding down her forehead. Her eyes were wide open, and she gritted her teeth. Her control over the DWMA students was very unstable- they were, after all some of the most extraordinary students she had ever encountered. Definitely much stronger than the children from 800 years ago.

"Come on, Slumber." she urged. "Hurry up."

* * *

Kim was stuck, confused, and nervous. After all, she may have had practice with a spear, but to use Ox's greatest weapon of all? At first it seemed plausible- she wasn't a really logical thinker- but as soon as she thought of launching the spear and missing- it made her stop.

It wasn't like her to be like this. Where did her attitude, her will and her need to fight- where did it go?

The tanuki witch looked up at the spear, and saw Harvar staring back at her.

"I don't think-" she started.

"What are you doing?" he interrupted. Kim's hand was raised; her legs were poised to jump into the air-

She clenched the spear so tightly her fingers started to turn white.

She was thinking. Thinking of what would happen if they failed, if they calculated wrong or if the witch could hear what they were saying or if they were too late-

Or if it didn't work.

A mental image of herself using the lightning attack and failing, not only in front of the witch but also in front of her peers.

And if she met her end like that,

"No." she snapped out of her thoughts. The word was crisp, fresh like a fallen star. It was a command, a firm strong one. "I know what you're thinking." it rang in her head.

"You will make it." she looked at Siesta.

Words were strange. Kim used them a lot, mostly because she could boss everyone around. But sometimes if she was lost in thought, words would bring her back to the surface.

Was that what was happening?

She took a step towards the witch. The ground was trembling beneath her feet, and the bear's power was overwhelming. She heard the witch mutter something to the bear, something unintelligible.

But did it matter?

"Say it again." she ordered.

"You will make it." Harvar said. The words sent a shiver up her arm.

She took a few steps back, and started to run.

* * *

It didn't take long for her to reach the witch. They were only a few steps away after all.

Jump.

_Watch as your body sails in the air, above everybody._

Raise your weapon.

_Raise the weapon that told you to fight, to win, to survive._

Shout.

_Shout like you've never shouted before; let it echo around the room for all to hear._

And finally,

Attack.

* * *

Ox stared. Stared into the light, magical light, glorious and wonderful light-

And suddenly he did not.

"What?" he whispered to himself. He looked at the witch instead, her hands outstretched. The bear was still charging up power- it was.

He looked at the light again. It no longer mesmerized him, and only seemed to hurt his eyes, so he looked away.

_She's controlling us. _He thought. He poked Kid, who was on his right. The Shinigami didn't move. He was staring into the light like everyone else.

Everyone except him.

"Hm." he said to himself quietly. "According to the logic I currently posses, it might be possible that the only reason I managed to slip away from the witch's magic is because I am weaker, therefore even if I woke my weapon it would not aid me (she's probably also hypnotized). Thus, I being the weaker one, would not cause as much harm to the witch as the others would which is why she released me from her spell." A moment of silence for himself as he contemplated the words he had just spoken aloud.

"I'm the weakest one." he lowered his head in defeat. "How demotivational. And I don't think that's even a real word."  
He nudged Kid again, and afterwards kicked him. The Shinigami didn't waver from his gaze. He looked forward, and tapped Black*Star on the shoulder.

"Wow." he said after a few seconds. He looked at the witch. She didn't seem to be noticing anything that was going on.

A wild cry suddenly sounded and he looked up.

"Oh look." he said. "There's Kim."

* * *

_What the spear saw._

From Harvar's point of view, the world was spinning. It was spinning round, and round, and round- the only proper shape he could actually see was just the outline of himself as a weapon. A spear shaped window allowed him to see through to the human world, and apart from that the rest of the world around him was simply black. Of course due to his weapon element (which was electricity), every now and then sparks flew, from the darkness into his domain. Every few seconds he felt a tingling and jolting go through the system.

He looked outside again- no longer rotating, but this time stuck, the spearhead lodged into someone's chest.

"Hm." he thought to himself. "It seems as if we have won the battle." A few seconds later the spear was thrown away, only to be caught by someone else in midair.

He heard someone breathing. Someone far away, the panting echoing inside the spear as well as in the human world. Harvar stuck his head out of the spear-shaped window and heard a tearing sound as he stuck his head out of the spear.

There was Kim, her gown torn at the sides- after all, it was hard fighting in a dress. She almost resembled a warrior queen - apart from her face, which was more youthful and less mature.

"How did you do it?" he asked.

"I ran." she replied. "Then jumped. I realized that I had accidentally gone too far overhead, so I did a really desperate flip. By that time I was already really close to the witch, and so I rammed you into her chest. And then I fell." she paused. "And then scrambled back to my feet really quickly."

He gave her a thumbs-up. "Brownie points for trying hard." she smiled in response and dropped the spear; letting is clatter to the ground. Harvar immediately reverted back into human form; slightly alarmed by the fact he was let go of so quickly.

It was then when he realized that Kim was swaying slightly, like she was about to faint. Harvar stood up quickly and steadied her, putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Sorry… I feel exhausted for some reason…" her speech was beginning to slur, and her eyes were closed.

"Woah, hey!" he cried out indignantly but she was already unconscious. With great difficulty Harvar grabbed her and hefted her into his arms. He was now holding her bridal-style, which felt very awkward, as Harvar had never done something like this before. After a few moments he adjusted, and it was then when he realized that the Spartoi were staring at him weirdly.

"Hey." he greeted them. They stared back at him, their mouths agape.

He looked back- and to his surprise the witch wasn't there. The monstrous bear was also gone.

"Harvar!" he heard someone call his name and turned- just in time to see Ox leapt towards him hands outstretched. Harvar responded by kicking him away, and sending him flying off somewhere else.

"Can't you see I'm holding an unconscious person?" he walked over to the Spartoi, trudging over broken glass as he went, and shoved Kim into Jackie's hands (She was now in human form).

"Here," he grunted. "She's all yours." Jackie took Kim and almost collapsed under her weight- after all Jackie was thinner than Kim and not as strong. She was a weapon, not a meister, and so her build was much lighter.

"Harvar!" she squeaked. "I'm going to drop Kim!"

Luckily she didn't, because as soon as Ox heard the name of his beloved angel he regained his senses and rushed forward to catch the tanuki witch before she hit the ground.

"Kim!" he cried out joyfully, but she didn't respond. "Kim!?"

"For goodness sakes," Harvar snapped. "She's only unconscious." This only caused Oxford to wail ["ONLY unconscious?!" he replied]. Harvar sighed and turned away.

"Harvar." he turned to see Soul standing there. The death scythe raised an eyebrow and smiled. "You were awesome out there."  
"Um… You mean Kim, right?" the lightning spear shrugged his shoulders in question.

"No, you." Soul said. "The minute you made contact with the witch some kind of energy came out from your spearhead and went into the witch."  
"It was, pardon me here, a little _shocking._" Maka appeared from behind Soul. "But cool nonetheless."

"Maka, what was that?" Soul grumbled and nudged her with his elbow. Harvar shrugged again and thanked the two for the compliment before walking back to Ox, who was _still _wailing.

"Darling Kim!" he howled. "My angel has fallen!"

"Hey there Jackie." Harvar nodded his head in acknowledgement and she waved back. "Where's the witch?" Jackie furrowed her brow, and paused before speaking.

"Well I don't know." she said slowly. "All I remember was staring into a light, and then suddenly it disappeared."

"Sorry, but the light?" Harvar asked.

"Yeah." Jackie said. She began to describe the bear, the cannon-like weapon that Siesta used. As she talked Harvar began piecing information together. Of course he had seen the bear, but he wasn't really focusing on the beast as a target, and so his image of the familiar was blurred and unclear.

"And then it created this orb of energy that was really mesmerizing, but it only lasted for about one second and then it disappeared-"

"One second?" Harvar said incredulously. The energy orb the bear tried to create lasted probably around at least 30 seconds. And by the time Kim had attacked, the energy orb still wasn't ready.

"Yeah," Jacqueline continued. "So anyway, all of a sudden the light was gone and then we all saw you and Kim. I still felt really dizzy and confused, and I'm not sure why I didn't run to Kim or anything. But then you took care of that by helping her, and by that time we were all alright."

_They must have been under a spell. _Harvar narrowed his eyes. _This information would prove to be quite useful for Professor Stein._

Suddenly he blinked and remembered that Kilik was still slumped in a corner sleeping. Without further ado he quickly ran to the meister's side-

* * *

_Who are you?_

He was floating, that was for sure. Floating in a black empty prison, with no one but himself to keep him company. Kilik was curled into a ball, trying to close his eyes. But closing his eyes was just the same as opening them, wasn't it?" Black on the inside, black on the outside, what did it matter if he closed his eyes?

But he closed them anyway (at least he thought he did), and decided to sleep.

It was strange, to sleep in an area that was completely black. But once he closed his eyes he could feel himself succumb to slumber.

"Are you lonely?" He jolted awake and swiveled around- just in time to meet the woman he was fighting. He instinctively fell into a boxer's stance, and attempted to circle around Siesta. He pushed at the air beneath his feet for a while until realizing that the air wouldn't let him move the way he wanted it to.

_I don't want to swim around her,_ he grumbled. _That wouldn't look intimidating at all._

"I get lonely too," she said. "All the time." Kilik turned to face her, an irritated look on his face.

"Yeah okay, but I don't need to know what you're all about." He said. And he thought for a while, wondering if there was any way of perhaps hitting the witch, overpowering her, maybe even knocking her unconscious. And after a while he decided not to. After all, the blackness around seemed to oppose him.

"Well if you'll just stay there, I'm going to get going." he swam away, kicking at the air. He went pretty quickly, and soon Siesta was only a dot in the distance.

"Still lonely." Or not.

"What are you doing here?" Kilik demanded.

"I'm here to wake you up." She smiled softly, something that felt weird to Kilik. Who could smile softly anyway?

She walked over to him, and the air obeyed her, creating little pathways where she walked. Kilik wished he could do that same, because floating around was getting really uncomfortable and weird. He watched curiously as she pat him on the head. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm setting you free," she answered. She leaned in to his face and placed a chaste kiss on the tip of his nose.

"What?" he blinked. He opened his mouth to say something more, but the witch place a finger to his lips and winked. Kilik resisted the temptation to bite off her finger-

* * *

_And… awake._

"Harvar?" Kilik murmured sleepily. "What's going on?" A wave of relief washed over the lightning weapon and he felt to urge to give his good friend a hug. It was quite tempting really, but in the end he settled for a bro-fist.

"Welcome back." he said simply, patting Kilik on the back. A small cry brought his attention to the two Pots, who were wailing.

"Ugh, they're crying again." Kilik mumbled. "Earth must be feeling really horrible."

"KILIK!" there was a shout as a mass of blue hair shot through the two groups and headed straight for the Pot meister. Black*Star tried to give Kilik a clumsy headlock- which Kilik quickly averted by elbow jabbing Black*Star in the gut and ducking under the blue monkey's arms.

"Wait a minute." Kilik jumped up suddenly and spun around. "Where's the witch?"

"About that." Soul placed a hand on the Pot meister's shoulders. "That was taken care of."

"Oh." Kilik dropped his stance. "Are you sure?" Maka nodded, pointing at Harvar as she did so. "Kim and Harvar saved us back there, you should have seen it." An uncomfortable urge to scowl came up, but Kilik resisted. He may have missed the battle, but at least he didn't die. He was just unlucky to be caught in that spell she used. It could have been worse.

He shuddered as his mind came up with mental images of the other options.

* * *

"Where are you?" The sound of feet stomping along, and there was a hint of annoyance in the young silky voice.

"We'll find her Kid. Don't stress out." Liz walked beside him, with Patty on her shoulders. The younger weapon was more exhausted than either two combined- for no reason at all. It was strange, but she was Patty. And Patty was, well, considered very strange for her age.

Kid motioned for the girls to walk behind him, and they hurried down the stairs running over to Crona's jail, and opened it with a swing of a foot-

"Why hello there." a deep voice sounded in the corner and Liz gasped and backed away as Medusa stepped out into the dim light.

"You're face is… off putting." Kid grimaced. He took out his father's Shinigami mask and handed it to Liz. "Take this to shield your face." the girl politely declined, but took the mask anyway and held it to her chest.

"I'm surprised," the Shinigami said softly. "Why did you do this to yourself?"

"You take pity on me?" the man growled. The arrows lining his jacket started to twist and move. "I couldn't care less about my form."

"Shame." Kid replied. "You don't look as good as you did before."

"Shame," the man replied. "That you fools could walk into my trap so easily." He grinned. "Like a timid mouse into the cave of a _snake's_ mouth-"

Kid leapt forward, Liz in hand and fired- He was gone.

In Medusa's place was nothing but swirling dust. Kid, who was expecting a solid figure to smash into, tripped and swung round. His arms flailed about wildly and he crashed to the ground. He groaned and stars sprung into his blurry eyesight, like little silver sparks. As he unconsciously waved them away Liz reverted back to her human form and helped him back up.

"You think this was planned?" she asked. He muttered a curse under his breath and nodded.

"Can't believe we fell for it," he stomped his foot in frustration. "A trap! A common, Medusa-like trap!"

"Let them do the dirty work, then get the benefits of not having to fight another enemy?"

"Don't remind me," he grumbled.

"On the bright side though, look at what you achieved today!" Liz said. Her meister raised an eyebrow and watched as Liz pointed to a particular lump on the floor.

"You grabbed me so suddenly…" Kid stared.

Was that Patty?

He closed his eyes, envisioning the events that had happened just a few moments ago. There was Liz AND Patty, the younger pistol on her sister's shoulders. He opened the door, conversation started, he ran at the witch-

"… And then you just yanked me and I had to turn into pistol form, but you left Patty because she was on my shoulders."  
Kid let it all sink in.

"So you're telling me," he said quietly. There seemed to be a hint of fear, perhaps even hysteria in his voice. "That I was in an asymmetrical stance?"

"Er…" Liz bit her tongue. "Couldn't you consider it as an achievement?"

Kid fainted.

* * *

_Witch awake._

Kim awoke with a jolt, realized that she was in Oxfords arms, and shrieked, slapping him in the face and getting back on the ground. It felt good for her feet to touch the cement, no matter how cracked and destroyed it was.

"Where's everyone?" she asked Ox. He motioned to somewhere behind her and she spun around. There, the Spartoi were in a small huddled group.

"Medusa is gone, we just destroyed a whole area, and the people to blame are gone!" she heard Maka scream. She allowed herself a small smirk as she walked up to the group- at least some things were still the same.

"Hey there." she laid a hand on the hysterical meister's shoulders. "What's the problem?"

"THIS WHOLE PARTY WAS A FAKE!" Maka yelled in the witch's ear. Kim winced and rubbed it tenderly.

"The whole thing, it just seems like a trap. We were all set up." Tsubaki said sadly. "The guests, the DWMA students, those faces of the people we recognized-" she choked on her words, and buried her face in her hands.

"Hey there." Soul patted her on the shoulder. "At least they were fake people, right?"

"That's not the point." Kilik said. "What matters is this: how was this broadcasted only to us? How were the tickets sold? There were so many people lining up for tickets- was that fake as well, or did our own people team up with Siesta?" He ran his fingers through his hair, frowning at the thought of the Sloth Bear witch's grand scheme.

"But I don't get it." Oxford frowned. He had decided to join the group. "There were DWMA students in the crowd as well. I even talked to one- She was from the NOT class I think… Eternal Feather?"

"MEDUSA!" Maka screamed into the air. She clutched her hair and her eyes bulged out of their sockets. Angry tears streamed down her face.

"Just calm down, alright?" Soul said. "We need to focus at the task at hand."

"AND WHAT WOULD THAT BE?" Maka bellowed.

"First of all, cleaning this place up." Soul said grimly.

"That would be my duty." Kid stood forward. He was holding a cold wet towel in his hands (That Liz had conveniently provided) and was very much awake. "This is my responsibility. I can get people to help me with rebuilding some of this."

"On the other hand," Liz said. "We're in the middle of a pile of huge rubble. We were really, really noisy. There is still fire everywhere." She paused. "Oh, and somehow no one seemed to notice a giant bear noise. I mean, yes, we're pretty high up, but that noise was really loud."

"Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't notice." Patty piped up. "There are so many weird things going on around here, they would have probably thought we were on another witch hunting mission or something."

"And there's one more thing-"

"There are hundreds more things we need to talk about." Maka hissed. "And when I find Medusa again, I am going to permanently kill her." She took Soul's hand and clenched it hard. Really hard.

Soul's hand started to throb.

* * *

_Click __Snap_

_Click __Snap_

Lindsey Garett slunk back into the shadows, camera in hand.

They were just photos of the group.

She zoomed in on one of the photos, zoomed in on one particular person.

"Hm." even from so far away the camera gave a decent quality photo. It was the boy again, the one that didn't model, the one that forgot to wear his shirt.

"Hm." she looked at the group. They had decided to leave, and she quickly walked into a corner. It was dark, that corner.

"…I'm going to KILL her." she heard one of them say. Maka, the one with the Last Death Scythe. She saw the girl stomp her foot in frustration.

"…Alright Kim?" she heard a boy say. He had funny looking glasses on, tall and lean. A weapon, she presumed.

The girl he was talking to nodded slightly. "Fine."

They all walked past.

None noticed her.

And when they left, she too decided to go back home.

* * *

_Get the job done._

It was hard.

Of course it was hard.

First of all it required a large amount of energy and time, to constantly monitor movements for at least a week. That would give enough information to know who was coming to the ball and who was not. An energy sphere as large as the soul of the late Shinigami-sama needed to surround the city, monitor certain people, certain families, certain shops. DWMA students definitely had to be monitored, every aspect of them examined to look like real copies.

_He_ would take care of that.

Next- one week later.

She would be informed of the people. Gather their information into her head, twist and turn and examine it until every last detail.

Make a few test copies.

Holograms, really. Very realistic, with enough personality so as not to be noticed as odd form the crowd.

Crowd of 9. The Spartoi and Medusa. Next- the holograms.

The money was real. It was easy to obtain- she had a quirky little machine that did it for her. Gave enough to each hologram, slowly formed a line of people in front of the reception where the old lady sat.

The hard part… Other people would notice. She threw them off with an illusionary construction site- harder part, Death the Kid always liked to check on the reception.

Her friends could manage that. They positioned themselves as beggars in front of the school, where every hologram was programmed to enter. Illusionists, the bunch of them all stationed in a corner. They knew who to trick and who to not, so that problem was solved.

She had obviously only sent the TV news cast about the ball to the Spartoi and all other people she knew were going to know about it.

Stein, Maka's father, Marie, they wouldn't go to the ball. They would look for Siesta Clandestine.

And she would not be at home. Why be there when she could play?

To make it suspicious, send Medusa to buy her a ticket.

Then go buy one herself. Just to confuse them a little.

The party. Nothing but a dream.

Of course, Kid was supposed to hold the party. Announce it and such and he did, 8 times in total across the whole city.

Or so he thought.

She cast the dreams into his sleep, like she did with Stein. Stein was… a test subject. The Professor could tell dreams from reality.

Death the Kid could not.

All the cakes and goods and lovely lights, decorations and such were all real, of course. The workers helping him were disposed of later. He would find them soon enough.

The Spartoi…

They wouldn't notice. She was informed of their capabilities and their weaknesses. It would be alright. None of them were extremely keen observers. Observers yes, not as sharp as Siesta Clandestine.

Not while she was sane.

_Next_-

Party time.

Enter holograms. Some would be copies of each other, but she directed routes to all of them so that they wouldn't bump into each other. The Spartoi would immediately notice if that happened.

Next-

Medusa. Easy, he was already on her side.

Next-

Maka Albarn and Soul Eater Evans. Maka would be pulled into the madness of the moon. It was obvious, really, just have to concentrate on it until it made her go a bit weird, then with a flick of your wrist disturb her conscience and allow it to fall to shambles. Shambles.

Maka fell, broke her arm, easier to fight. Soul distressed, Spartoi downstairs with Medusa, crowd disperse.

The fight was harder than what she'd expected. Of course she had prepared herself for the worst, but she had underestimated them in terms of stamina and endurance. The surprise attack they had planned went especially well, something she never considered herself. She just liked to get out there.

The lightning attack almost killed her; luckily Slumber was there to send her away.

What happened afterwards, Medusa's little plan of escape-

Siesta slammed a fist onto her desk.

Not part of her plan. Medusa was supposed to have captured Soul, given him to her.

She should not have trusted him. Not for a moment.

Siesta touched the golden bauble on her neck. It wasn't pulsing or radiating with warmth- a soul hadn't occupied it yet.

She would have to wait.

* * *

_Spirit's expedition_

And as Medusa disappeared, he reappeared outside the DWMA doors quickly before reverting to a snake form. He slithered to an open pipe, diving in and going back to his secret hideout.

It was a shabby old place, one of the village's abandoned houses. The exterior was just as worn down as the interior, and definitely wasn't an ideal place to slept. Nevertheless he refused to accept Siesta's lovely cottage home and instead stayed where he was. Secret houses were very important.

As she entered his house he flicked his tail to close the door and reverted back to her human form. Quickly she raced to the bathroom to check for any side effects- the teleportation spell wasn't advised, but he wanted to try it out.

Just a slight swelling on the eye, nothing more.

"Medusa."

She spun, releasing 3 arrows at her target- Missed, all three. They quivered, stuck to the dirt-encrusted wall.

She hissed in anger, and quickly walked out of the bathroom. She released her snake tattoo, and it slithered silently next to her. She braced herself and walked into the kitchen-

Empty-

"Medusa."

Again! There, just there she could here him speak. The snake struck, following the noise and pouncing on it- but he was too quick.

"Sit." He was there- Again- How?

Medusa sat, legs crossed. He stared across the table, and saw as Spirit emerged from around the corner. The other man took a seat, and Medusa observed him. No knives, daggers, guns. Just the scythe himself.

And he knew the scythe would be enough. Medusa wasn't as strong as before; he had yet to get back into shape.

"How many." he narrowed his eyes at the death scythe.

"One." Medusa grinned as he heard this.

"First question-" Spirit started.

"It was hard." Medusa already knew what he was going to ask. "I barely survived."

"Why are you a man now?" Spirit questioned.

"I'm bored of seducing men like you." the snake witch replied with a smirk. Spirit said nothing in reply, simply waited.

"It took patience, getting into a strong body. The women were weak. All of them were fleshy and fat." he growled, clenching his hand into a fist.

"You were impatient." Spirit spoke up. "So you took the strongest one you found."

"It was necessary." he replied. "And besides," he reached to touch his hair, stroking it. "I'm blonde again."

"You're siding with Clandestine." Spirit said. "Why?"

"Touchy, nosy, we don't want to go that way." Medusa sighed. "She's a very beautiful woman, I must admit. But not enough for me."

"You betrayed her." Spirit said. "And what now? Working alone again? You won't have Crona this time to help you."

"Oh?" Medusa looked up in faux surprise. "What do you mean about that?"

"Don't talk stupid with me, Medusa." Spirit replied. "Crona is stuck there because of you. Stuck with the Kishin."

"Ah." Medusa said with a smile.

"Yes." his smile widened. Spirit looked at him with a puzzled expression on his face. He didn't know, did he.

Medusa stood up abruptly, and the chair fell over. The witch ignored it.

"I must go." Medusa said. "I've got to check out some things."

"No." Spirit stood also, and he stepped in front of the door. "You're not leaving."

"My house, my rules." Medusa grinned wickedly and slammed his boot down onto the floorboards. Immediately a black arrow faded into vision, and Medusa was sent zooming away to another room. Spirit sprinted after it, dodging various arrows that Medusa sent after him. "Vector Arrow!" A burst of energy and the wooden door burst open, wood splinters flying everywhere.

Spirit leapt into the next room- too late. As he ran out of the house he heard a rumble, and turned just in time to see the house crumble to dust.

* * *

_Overlord?_

What do you have for me, Sloth?

_"I failed. They almost killed me."_

Idiot.

Your life depends on if I'm happy with you.

_"I will not disappoint you next time."_

What do you have for me, Snake?

_"Successfully evaded DWMA imprisonment. Spirit came after me."_

You better have.

What do you have for me, Six?

_"Nothing so far."  
"We've cast the IMAGE upon the desert lands."  
__"They will not find us as easily."  
__"Ready if we're needed."  
__"Our mission is complete."  
__"We have succeeded."_

Good.

And

What do you have for me,

Crona?

* * *

**Hey guys~ So sorry there hasn't been an update in such a long time!**


	7. Forgetful turnips and duo frogs

**Bros, wassup?**

**I updated! Enjoy~ Sorry it took a while. Lotsa words though, so read up!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Forgetful turnips and duo frogs**

_Faint._

Dull pain throbbed in her chest, like several bruises overlapping each other. She brushed her fingers ever so slightly over her heart, and suddenly there was sharp pain, and she yelped.

"Tsubaki?" her father asked. "Are you alright?"

She nodded quickly, a small smile across her face. Then she stood, went to the small kitchen to pour herself a cup of tea. As she drank she felt the throbbing lessen, and she sighed.

"HA!" she heard Black*Star shout. He was at it again, kicking the trunk of the thick tree outside her family's garden. He was practicing even harder now, focusing more on his close combat than with her. It wasn't really necessary, he'd been working so hard it she felt it was a waste of time…

"You really shouldn't be working so hard, Black*Star." she heard her father say. His voice was calm and soothing, but she knew he was slightly annoyed by the fact that Black*Star's kicks were making large marks on the tree. It was an old Sakura, and her father's pride and joy.

"But I need to work harder!" Black*Star cried out indignantly, and Tsubaki could her him punch the tree again. She felt her father wince in pain, and he said, "Yes, but not on the _tree_."

She laughed, but stopped suddenly as the pain in her chest worsened. Once again it reminded her of the fight with the witch, Lady Siesta. The fight was horrible, exhausting each and every Spartoi's stamina.

_But you._

She put down her cup, and walked to the garden in a trance-like state. Black*Star and her father had moved somewhere else, to study another type of training.

She leaned against the Sakura's trunk, and pressed a hand against her chest again, ignoring the pains there.

_According to 'Soul life' written by an Anonymous writer, Soul Perception is a rare ability in which the person with the ability can see someone else's soul. However, the alternative that almost every other human being uses is to hear the Soul Wavelength. Though it takes longer to perform and is not very easy, people of all ages can do this. Simply place your hand on your heart, and close your eyes. Attempt to block out all noise, and concentrate on whatever emptiness you can find. Do not let your mind wander, simply look straight at the inside of your eyelids. Do this for about a minute, and you'll be able to hear a high-pitched sound- your own soul wavelength. _

_A soft, high-pitched sound would mean a rather flat wavelength, and a blaring high-pitched sound would mean a very distorted wavelength. Average wavelengths should contain an equal amount of both._

_A WARNING: Doing this for more than half an hour will damage your ears, and cause temporary deafness._

Tsubaki closed her eyes, placed her hand over her heart, and concentrated. She stared into the void that was her eyes, a strange black and grey space. Slowly all sounds faded into the distance and nothing remained.

Then she heard it. It started out soft, swaying, flowing… then loud, blaring and incomprehensible-

She tried to move out of it, literally stumbling away from the tree into the sunlight and attempted to open her eyes but they remained shut. And she could feel her heart beat faster-

Until the high-pitched noise was her void; she could feel it screaming in her ears, screaming straight into her mind poking, prodding as it grew louder, louder, louder, LOUDER LOUDER LOUDER-

* * *

"Thanks old man!" Black*Star said gleefully as he slammed his fist into the concrete brick, blasting it apart. Tsubaki's father smiled, carefully observing each movement Black*Star was making. _He's a fine young boy, _the old man thought. _Strong and determined._ His smile grew wider as Black*Star whooped in triumph, another brick crumbled to pieces under his hand. _Just like me in my younger years._

"What else do I need to know?" The young boy looked up at him, panting. His face wet, his shirt drowned in sweat and flecks of dust. But the look in his eyes was still the same: Excited, eager to know more and learn…

Learn how to kill.

Tsubaki's father opened his mouth- closed it, and shook his head.

"I think it's time you rested." Black*Star pouted as he heard this, but nodded obediently.

"Why don't we sit down instead, and discuss tactics?" The old man said, trying to spark interest in the boy. But he received quite the opposite treatment as the blue-haired meister grumbled.

"Don't forget," Tsubaki's father reminded him, "That tactics are just as important as techniques. Without the two, you certainly won't be able to reach your goal of being a champion." Black*Star sighed in response. "But you have to _think!_" he groaned. The old man chuckled, and sent him off to change his clothes. Talking with a sweaty, stinky young man was definitely not his forte.

He sat there, eyes closed and thought of the young boy. If only he knew how important it was, to learn where to attack, when to strike a blow, how to stealthily reach his opponent. The boy was clever; he had the ability to master all these things yet-

He wanted to learn how to kill. It troubled the old man, stirred something deep within him, something scared.

Timing was important. It helped when knocking out a person, critically injuring them but not ending their lives, even avoiding them was a good strategy to save strength.

But the boy- his endless rants of crushing every enemy scared him. It scared him to the core, reminded him of the boy's father.

_He said he would create his own path. _The old man thought to himself calmly.

_What could possibly go wrong with that?_

Black*Star leapt into the room, grabbed his clothes and changed as quickly as he could. Training with the old geezer was fantastic! Amazing! Productive! The words floated around his dizzied head as he grabbed a pair of sneakers and thrust his feet into them. Exciting! He wrapped the strap around his waist like a belt, and checked his hair. Awesome.

"I. Am. So. Cool." He did a back flip before leaving the room.

On his way, he suddenly thought of Tsubaki. Wouldn't she be more interested in these, 'tactics'? Maybe they could switch roles- Black*Star could do even more practice while Tsubaki could listen and do all the talking. She would like that, right? She liked everything.

"Tsubaki!" He shouted across the room. She didn't reply. He frowned slightly. Usually there was a nervous 'H-Hai!' or 'Here!' and sometimes she would just run up to him and smile. Hm.

Maybe he wasn't loud enough.

"TSUBAKI!" he shouted once more. Again, nothing. He was growing slightly impatient, standing there motionless. His legs started to jitter. His fingers fidgeted. His toes wiggled. At last, he ran to the kitchen- No sign of her there though. Only a small cup of tea.

Black*Star mumbled incoherently, probably a string of random curses, before running out to the steps. Tsubaki, Tsubaki, Tsubaki.

She wasn't one to play hide and seek.

"Tsuba-" He stopped.

Broke into a run.

Her shoulders were stiffened, and her fingers were curled into fists.

Her eyes were closed, barely breathing. The high-pitched sound was everywhere, turning Tsubaki's mind into a confusing and chaotic mess. It made her twitch uncontrollably; every now and then her ears gave up listening.

She must've fainted somewhere in the midst of the sound, because soon it disappeared, and she awoke to her name.

"Tsubaki? Tsubaki!" she was in someone's arms now, hair brushed against her forehead. She tried to sit up, ignoring the protests of the person holding her, but as soon as she opened her eyes dizziness caused her to fall back.

"OLD MAN!" She heard. "MR. NAKATSUKASA!"

"No, no…" she mumbled, and she reached out with her left hand blindly. "Stop… stop…" Her fingers grazed the person's arm and suddenly he stopped calling out. It was a familiar voice, a voice she knew very, very well.

A hand grasped hers, and the boy, the _blue haired _boy started to talk to her.

"You'll get better… You always get better… Don't ever do that again… Just wait a few more seconds, you'll be okay, you'll be okay, what happened what happened why, why, why"

And she went unconscious.

* * *

_What children do in their pastime. Or, We Need To Talk About Harvar._

"So you're saying that you felt _a wave_?" Oxford said curiously as he sipped at the tea. Kim nodded. The four Spartoi (including the meister's weapons) were seated in Deathbucks, eating omelets and discussing. Omelets were good for discussion, right? Anyway, the four were conversing about the battle.

"If you're talking about the tingly sensation with electricity sparking through my body, then yes." she said. Kim closed her eyes, trying to relieve the moment. She had almost forgotten about it until she bumped into Harvar the next day.

Ox looked at her again, his expression unreadable. Then he broke into a smile, and looked away, blushing. _Her eyes are so pretty when they're closed. _He thought. Which actually didn't make sense, and he was really just talking a load of mumble jumble.

"Harvar," he said, looking away. "What did you feel in the battle?"  
"Same as ever." the lighting spear shrugged. "Electricity all over again."

"But I don't understand." Kim spoke. She waved her hands around dramatically. "I almost couldn't feel your wavelength. Like it was gone, as in split off."

"Maybe Ox has felt it too." Jackie asked. "Have you?" She looked to Oxford for an answer.

"Um, I never pay attention to that part. I mean I just pick him up." Ox said. "No offense, Harvar. We've done it so many times..." his weapon shrugged again, indicating a 'None-taken' response to Ox.

"Pay attention next time." Kim scowled. "Because this is important."

"Is it?" Harvar sighed, picking at his nails. "It's just a Wavelength. It's not special."

"Wavelengths are special." Kim slammed a fist onto the desk angrily, and everyone jumped back. "I had to study them for a month." she hissed.

"Kim, studying?" Ox whistled. "Now that's something."

"She does actually study." Jackie said to him. "She was only a few points below you in the super written exam."

"Really?" Ox said. "I never really pay any attention to that either. Not that I don't care though." he gushed at Kim.

"She's always gotten around 93-95 marks." Harvar said. "But last year she got 98 marks out of a hundred. _Almost_ as good as me." he smirked.

"How d'you know?" the tanuki witch asked suspiciously. "You stalk me or something?"

"Stalk you for him, girl." he replied, pointing his thumb at his meister. "Stalk you for him."

"That sounds like you're gay." Kim remarked. "Like, gay for Ox." Jackie spit out her drink, and Ox choked on his omelet, while Harvar looked at her with eyebrows raised.

_Of course, the relationship between Ox and Harvar has always been a close one, but not romantic. They were best buds, to put it that way. Watched each other's backs, thought the same things, both smart, both skilled. So it wasn't surprising that Kim's remark felt insulting. Very insulting, in fact that in Harvar's point of view it was considered extremely offensive. Obviously._

"Excuse me?" he looked at her coldly (Well you could never really tell due to his red visor). "Did you just call me a homosexual?"

"I didn't mean anything by it," Kim shrugged. "Just teasing."

"Fine." Harvar's shoulders loosened, and he sighed, looking away. "Yeah alright. Just don't say that again."

"Unless..." Kim smirked, leaning over the table to look at Harvar in the eyes. "Unless you really are."

Harvar considered slapping her, right at that moment. He didn't like the way she toyed with people. He didn't really like her at all first, merely accepted the fact that she was an ally- that was until he fought with her on the day they fought the witch. That was when he knew she was really worth it.

So perhaps slapping her would make their relationship worse- maybe he should go along with it.

Harvar closed his eyes [_She's a worthy ally, be calm and just do it.]_, and turned to face her. The expression on her face told him that wasn't what she expected.  
"What if I proved I wasn't?" he smiled back.

"How?" she said curiously.

"Oh, I don't know." he shrugged and looked at Ox. "What do you say Ox? How would I prove it?"

"Well, you confess your love to a girl." Ox said. "Or just kiss a girl. Or hug a girl. I don't know." The meister suddenly looked up alarmingly at Harvar. "But don't you dare do anything to Kim!" he screeched. Harvar pouted at him.

"Why not?" he replied. "It's not like I'm in love with her or anything. Its just evidence of my 'straight-ness'."

"Just don't!" Ox said again. "And I get her first kiss!"

"Wouldn't be my first kiss, actually." Kim mumbled, but Ox heard it and jumped out of his seat.

"WHAT?!" He screamed, and the whole café went silent. He received deadly glares from the guests and waiters.

"Ox, you're disturbing other people." Harvar said sternly like a mother scolding a child. He pulled Ox back down. "And it's not that a big deal. I've already had my first kiss as well."

"You?" Kim raised an eyebrow. "You, the loyal, duty-oriented Harvar? When did that happen? In a bar? Was it with a guy?"

He didn't answer, merely returned to leaning against the chair in silence.

"Guys…" Jackie muttered. "We weren't supposed to be talking about this in the first place." She started sipping gloomily at her tea.

"That's it." Harvar said suddenly, and leapt to his feet, leaned over to where Jacqueline was sitting.

"I confess my undying love for you, Jacqueline O'Lantern Dupre. Let us kiss under a moonlit sky." he said dramatically.

She spat tea in his face.

* * *

"I was joking," he said miserably after they had left the café and washed his face. "It was just proof, I don't really like her at all." Oxford patted him on the shoulder. "Wasn't it obvious that I was acting?"

"Girls are weird like that Harvar." He said, and they went back home.

* * *

_What about my book?_

They had all forgotten about it. After all, it was just a small thing. After the fight with the witch everyone had forgotten about the black blood booklet. It went from Maka to Soul, Soul to Tsubaki and then back into the library.

It wasn't necessary, they said. After all, because of Medusa's betrayal she probably wouldn't be writing in the book anymore. She didn't need to.

So that was that, and the book went back to where it was.

Patricia Thompson smiled. She wasn't one to forget things like this. She never really 'forgot' only 'lost interest and refused to do it'. Things like homework were easy to forget. Homework was meaningless if she understood everything.

The pistol twin walked quietly into the library, smiled politely to the new librarian and handed him her card.

"I know I'm not a level 4 weapon yet," she said quietly to him. "But my meister is Death the Kid, and he needs this book." The librarian nodded quickly, returning the card. He could tell she was his weapon by her looks: Her incredibly fair hair and big blue eyes said it all.

"It should be on that shelf there. I'll get you a ladder." Patty thanked him with a smile, and he went into the storage room. A few seconds later he came out with a rather long ladder, definitely long enough the reach the top of the library.

"Thanks sir."

As she climbed up slowly, she thought about the absurd layout of the library. There was a giant hexagonal pillar in the middle where EAT and NOT class textbooks were usually found. The rest of the books were a little less organized- And the level 3 books and higher were all at the very top shelves of the library.

* * *

She was sitting down now, looking at the diary in her hands. Of course, it was up to her to read it anyway.

She scanned the pages- of course, now it was just a normal diary, it seemed as if the magic speaking to the Spartoi was gone. The old entries were still there, but they weren't moving and changing anymore. It was just a book now.

_Crona is alive._

There, she saw it. The line didn't really shock her. It never did in the first place- if Medusa was still alive; there must've been more than that. She must've had help, someone else helping her.

Out of curiosity she flipped the extra page. There was still a small space where she could write. Patty took out her ink pen, and pressed it against the page. Then she watched as the ink slowly sunk into the paper.

She shrugged.

_Oh_

There, a word fading into the brown paper. A word she hadn't written.

_Oh hello._

Someone was writing back.

Patty decided it was time to do something stupid.

She wrote on the paper. _Is this Medusa?_

And waited. Of course, she would never be sure if it really was Medusa, or if it was someone claiming to be Medusa.

_Is this Maka?_

The paper replied.

_Nope. _Patty wrote back. _And I'm being honest._

She could hear the person behind the paper laugh. She laughed too.

_And I'm not Medusa._

Hm. She paused at that, her pen hovering just centimeters above the page. Was the person lying? She doubted it, and then doubted her doubt.

_How would I know that you're not lying?_

She wrote back.

_I'm outside your window._

She shrugged. Good enough proof. She stood up; walking up to the window- of course she hadn't noticed- the curtains were drawn. With a deep breath, she drew back the curtains-

* * *

_Lettuce please._

It was cold that night. They sat in a circle, hands around the fire. It was cold and so were they.

"Max." One of them said in a hoarse, feeble voice.

"Yes, Jamie?" The one called Max replied. He was a stocky young man, well built with hands the size of sledgehammers. His eyes were deeply sunken in from guarding the others all those long nights before.

"Will we have plates to eat on?" she asked. Her real name was actually Jesamelia; Her parents couldn't decide which name to choose: Jessica or Amelia? And so, they decided name her Jesamelia, a 'Jessica-Amelia'. In fact, they were so obsessed with both of the names that they decided to do the same thing with Jesamelia's middle name, which was now 'Amelissica'. _[A/N: And why would you need to know this anyway?]_

Jesamelia Amelissica Ford looked up at Max, her dark brown eyes full of hope. For a plate, of course, but with hope.

"No, Jamie." Max sighed. "We won't have plates to eat on. Not for a very long time."

"Of course not." Someone said crossly behind them. "We might not even _eat._"

"Why not, Kess?" Jesamelia said. Her stomach was rumbling now. It was cold in the desert, and she didn't like it out there. The only reason they were out here was because their master ordered them to stay outside. Apparently they hadn't done as well as she'd thought.

"Because Nico won't come back with meat tonight." Kess sighed, and his whole body sighed with him.

He caught a glimpse of a scurrying shadow and he pounced upon it, spear piercing the body of a black scorpion. He muttered in disgust. He couldn't eat _this_.

Kess would have to wait for the Fourth to come back.

* * *

Jesamelia saw him in the midst of a sand storm. She called to him, but he didn't answer. She usually ignored everything Kess said. Mostly because he liked to fib.

"Max!" she shouted. "Nico is back!" she pranced around the campfire happily, shouting the words, "Nico is back! Nico is back! We'll have roast meat tonight!"

"Alright, alright!" Max scowled. "I'll go get him."

He trudged towards the mini sandstorm that surrounded the man. Nico still couldn't control the sandstorm, and Max doubted he would ever be able to. It was so strong, compared to the young man's feeble body- there was no way he'd be able to calm it.

"Pass the meat, Nico!" he shouted to the man in the storm. The man shook his head, frowning.  
"You found nothing?" Max almost shrieked. They'd been living on lettuce, turnip (for some reason they had an endless supply of those particular vegetables) and cactus water for days, counting on Nico to get them the meat. He was good at that, Nico. His specialty. So it surprised Max when he came back with his hands empty.

* * *

"I am so sorry." Nico called her with his super-phone. Their masters had given them phones with unlimited 4G accesses and somehow enough phone credit to last them for two years. They always seemed to have Service somewhere on the desert – their masters probably did something to the ground. Their masters said it would be important, to communicate with each other from very far away.

This proved to be extremely useful to Nico, who usually had trouble communicating due to the miniature sand hurricane that enveloped him in bits of grit.

"Its okay." she sighed. "I guess you just had a bout of bad luck."

"No kidding." He tried to laugh, but he must've opened his mouth too wide because sand started pouring in. He gagged and cursed, rearranging the scarf around his head while Jesamelia giggled.

"What will you eat then?" she asked. "You've got nothing." She could see him shrug.

"I'll think of something." he replied, and hung up.

"Yeah, he'll think of something alright." she turned around quickly, and her mouth spread into a grin.

"Fourth!" she squealed at the old man. He smiled warmly back at her, and hobbled  
to the campfire.

"Hello, Second." he said to her. "How have the rest of the Six been?"

"Great!" She beamed at him. He was like a father to her, since her real parents would be needed for their Masters' experiments. Although she would reach her twentieth birthday in a few weeks she still acted like a naïve child, often making clumsy and careless mistakes.

"Although… Third isn't holding up well. He couldn't find any meat, and we can't really pass him food through the sandstorm." she looked to the young man in the storm. His face was expressionless, but she knew he was really hungry.

"Well then, we could always dial First. He's bound to have found something." the old man replied. He too sat by the fire, taking a bunch of carrots.

"Turnip mash tonight." He grunted, taking a metal pot from his knapsack. He placed it gently above the fire and it hovered there gently, swaying from side to side. Max took out his water bottle and let the water gush out of the mouth into the round metal base. Then he tossed a few turnips into it, and some salt and pepper. None of the Six really knew how to cook- that wasn't actually part of their training.

They sat around the campfire, the sandstorm man a few meters away.

He looked at them; they were happy and smiling, munching on turnip and drinking water. He felt thirsty at the thought of water, and walked into the desert. He stopped in front of a cactus tree and felt the sandstorm begin to calm. He was learning, slowly but surely, and soon he would get the hang of it.

He only had a few seconds left. Nico quickly took out his knife, plunging it into the cactus's thick stump. Then, placing a small woven grass basket under the cut, he took out the knife and watched as water began to seep from the cut.

He drank his fill and the sand started to move again. He looked up at it, watching as the desert cactus slowly disappeared behind the whirlwind of sand around him. He reached out with his hand, slowly towards the sand-

And brought it back quickly as he felt the ripping of skin. He looked at his finger; it was bleeding and there was grit in the wound. He cursed angrily, then quickly brought out a bandage and stuck it onto the finger.

The eye of the hurricane was alright, though. Sand flew in his face all the time, but it wasn't fierce and fast.

He walked on, the sandstorm moving with him.

* * *

Free gutted the boar and watched as it stumbled to the ground, blood gushing at the wound. It gave a loud screech, and the trees rustled as birds flew away from the scene. Free sighed, and gutted it again. It fell silent this time, only moaning softly and Free waited until it was still. A snake slithered and it's coils wrapped around a tree, watching as the man hefted the pig up with his one arm.

Where was he again? He could only recall landing in this wild forest a few minute ago…

A vibration in his left pocket stirred his memory, and he took the call.

"First?" an old voice called from the other end.

"Yep." he replied.

"You have the pig, right?" the Fourth said.

"Of course I do. Nice and fresh and dead." he grimaced as blood seeped from the wound down his back. It was difficult, carrying a pig and receiving a call at the same time. It took skill.

"Well come on then. Fifth is dying of starvation. No, I'm lying." And the call ended. Free looked at his cell, and he remembered where he was supposed to be. What he was supposed to do. Why he was doing it.

"C'mon boy, it'll only take a few more weeks. Then they let her go." he said to himself, and closed his eyes.

A few seconds later he was in the desert next to a startled Nico.

"Goodness gracious, boy." he grunted. "You're still in it?" The sandstorm man nodded sadly.

"Well let's go." he shrugged, and they headed towards the campfire.

* * *

_A day ago…_

He returned in the morning, the scythe by his side. A long red scar ran down the side of his face- not that he cared.

With a yawn, he let go of the weapon and smiled as it clattered to the ground, listening to the sound of a shriek as Spirit returned his human form.

"You said you wouldn't do that!" the scythe shouted.

"I only promised not to hurt you. You weren't hurt in your weapon form, were you?" Stein snickered, walking to the couch. "Pour me a cup of tea."

"WHAT?" Spirit screeched. "Don't you dare-"

"Go on." Stein smiled. "Or I'll hunt you in the night." His smile turned to an eerie grin, and Spirit obliged.

There was a knock on the door now, and Stein stood up suddenly. His eyes narrowed at first, wondering who it was.

"It's just me." Kid called out from behind the door, reading his thoughts. "Just your regular Shinigami."

Stein smiled, flinging the door open and enveloping Kid in a crushing hug, saying, "Kid! My favorite specimen!" The Shinigami winced at that.

* * *

"I heard it went badly."

"Not that badly." Spirit said. "I managed to find her location, but the minute I snuck into her house she knew I was there. Stein tried to ambush her, but-" he glared at Stein. "He ambushed the wrong spot."

"I missed out on the practice, that's all." Stein pouted. "I didn't do too badly."

"Did you find the Six?" Kid said, sipping on his cup of warm tea. The meister-weapon duo bobbed their heads in unison. "Good."

"Their base has been located in one of the ancient pyramids, somewhere in the middle of the desert. It's underground though, so it'll be hard to find with just the two of us."

"Not a problem. I'll send four of the Spartoi with you. I'm sure they'll be of big help." Kid smiled reassuringly. Spirit smiled back, hoping that it would be Maka. The girl never really liked him, even though he was her father. He guessed he was a little perverted, but he did care about her very, very much.

"Basically," Stein rolled his eyes. "Spirit wants to ask if Maka's going to be travelling with us." Spirit squeaked.

"I thought nothing of the sort!" he replied.

"It's okay Spirit." Kid chuckled. "You said it out loud." Spirit looked at him, astonished. Had he really said all that? He'd been so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't even realize his mouth was acting on its own.

"She won't be coming with you," he said. "But I'm sending four others. Two meister-weapon pairs in total." Spirit wailed silently in his head.

"When will we leave?" he heard Stein say. The meister always wanted to go somewhere, outside, inside a cave, on a deserted island, next to a dead body, ugh! It annoyed Spirit to the very core.

"Tomorrow, at noon." Kid said. "You have no time to waste."

"Fine." Spirit glared daggers at him until he left the room, and shut the door.

Suddenly the bedroom burst open and Marie tumbled out.

"Stein?" she frowned and stood up. "What on earth are you doing drinking tea at 2am?"

"I'm leaving tomorrow." he shrugged. She nodded slowly, and murmured a greeting to Spirit before returning back to bed.

"Women." Stein rolled his eyes. "Always asking silly questions."

* * *

_The dreamscape encounter._

"Maka!" She called out to her but she wasn't loud enough because the loud voice of a boy echoed throughout the dark space, and she saw her best friend and a woman she didn't know she could see a claw reaching out for Maka's hands and-

She was running away from a huge lumbering beast, running back and forth through winding corridors and empty pavements until she could see a door in front of her, a door that was nice and grey-

So she opened it and slammed it behind her. The roar of the mighty beast faded away and she sighed contently. Her shallow breath slowed and her heart started to beat normally.

She could hear noises now- the sound of a boy and a woman.

"The sandwich smells good, doesn't it?" she heard the woman say. She frowned, trying to make sense of the situation and then decided she might as well take a closer look.

And she stepped into the room- it was small and cube-like, with a jelly-like mass at the center of the room. She could see the woman- and Black*Star?  
_What is he doing here? _She wondered. _I don't- _and she saw him open his mouth to eat a sandwich.

"Black*Star!" She called out to him before he could take a bite. Her voice echoed around the room.

"What-" Black*Star spluttered.

"We have to get out of here." she could suddenly feel the presence of the beast- he knew she was here. They had to get out, get out, get out, before the beast came. Why was there a beast?

"Who are you?" Tsubaki turned her head and saw her, the woman who ruined her steady wavelength: the witch.

"Why are you here?" Tsubaki demanded. "Get out of Black*Star's head!"

"My head?" Black*Star said. "My _head_?"

"And why are you here?" The woman retorted.

"Tell me your name." Tsubaki said, standing in front of Black*Star. She reached out for the first thing in her head. "And why are you targeting meisters?" She remembered her more clearly now, that she was the one ho had tried to take Harvar away from Ox. She almost killed him.

"What are you talking about, stupid girl?" the woman scoffed at her. "I don't understand you at all."

"I saw you in someone else's dreams. I saw you." Tsubaki narrowed her eyes. She was the woman in Maka's dream. She could see her clearly now, the claw hands and the claw hat. She hadn't worn the hat during the fight.

"Maka? Ms. Albarn, you mean? I simply asked her some questions-"

"You came into her sleep, and now you're in Black*Star's too." Tsubaki said angrily. "So who are you?"  
"I'm afraid I can't answer that." The lady smirked.

"Wait guys, what's going on?" Black*Star asked.

"Nothing." Tsubaki muttered under her breath.

Suddenly the world went wild- Tsubaki stumbled and almost lost her footing-

Black then white, then black again-

Black*Star stumbled, dropping to his knees. Tsubaki pulled him back on his feet and put her arms around him in a protective position. She was a weapon, and Black*Star was her meister.

"Hey Tsubaki stop that! You're going to get hurt!" Black*Star yelled.  
"You little brats…" The witch rose, and Tsubaki could see a sort of energy emanate from her. "I won't let you get away!"

"We should get going Black*Star!" Tsubaki shouted. "Come on!"

"Where are we going?" he screeched as she pulled him along.

"No time to explain!" Tsubaki screamed back at him. "Just come with-"

And then she saw something out of the corner of her eye.

A cannon the size of a bear, massive and crackling with energy- it was the bear from the fight, from the fight they fought only a day ago and it was here to kill-

_It's coming towards us. _She thought.

"Eat this, Star clan boy." the witch sneered.

"Black*Star!" Tsubaki yelled and reached out for him but he stepped in front of her and-

* * *

She woke up to the sound of heavy panting, and jolted upright. A monitor was beeping into her ear- painfully reminding her of her close encounter with temporary deafness.

She looked to her right and saw Black*Star and Maka. Maka looked at her, eyes full of concern and then she remembered.

"Where's my father?" she said, getting out of the blankets. Nigus gently pushed her back down ["You're not well rested yet, my dear," she said.] but she struggled back up.

"He's alright." Black*Star said between his teeth. He was still doing pushups now; sweat was pouring down his backside and made his clothes damp. "He's doing fine."

She relaxed, loosened up her tense shoulders and sighed.

"I think I had a dream." as soon as she said that, Maka rushed up to her immediately.

"What was it?" She asked. "Was it anything like ours?"

"Y-Yes," Tsubaki stammered. "In fact, I think it _was _yours." then she pointed at Black*Star. "And his too."

"What about me?" Black*Star said suddenly, and he plunked himself next to Tsubaki, dismissing her protests of 'you shouldn't sit here Black*Star' 'you're dirty Black*Star' 'Black*Star you're _sweating_ on the bed'.

"I missed you, by the way." Black*Star pulled her into a crushing hug. Tsubaki would've enjoyed it more if he wasn't sweating like crazy, but she liked it nonetheless. He wasn't the kind of guy to hug people, so something like this was important.

"Thank you." She smiled. "Now I've got something to share."

* * *

_Lindsey Garett, professional photographer?_

She woke to the sound of birds at her window, trudged to her bathroom and whipped out her toothbrush from behind the tall sink. She watched herself smear the gooey toothpaste onto her toothbrush, and then examined her teeth in the mirror as she brushed and brushed and brushed.

She slowly trudged down the stairs – still in her pajamas – and listened to the radio as she munched on some cereal. It was the same thing over and over again, the same broadcasts and songs, a whole lot of suspicious activity everywhere and every minute, 'be careful at night' shows and a lot of jiggery-pokery. _Jiggery-pokery. _She giggled. It was a funny word.

So, finding herself with a Sunday off, she decided to take out her camera. She examined the pictures she took that evening, and the videos as well.

She watched the movements the witch took, the way she handled each and every Spartoi like they were toys- and there was the moment when she was knocked over by the bear. At first she thought she was going to get killed, but he didn't want her. He only wanted to protect his 'mother'. _Oh dear._

"There's the Shinigami." She said to herself as she poked the camera screen. He was weaker than she thought, and then she replayed the scene where the lightning struck the witch. She paused at that bit, examining all their expressions- the exact minute when the Spartoi woke from their trance, when the other girl stabbed the witch with the weapon boy, and when the bear roared, and the witch screamed, and-

She narrowed her eyes, pressing her face closer to the screen. The witch was fondling one of her baubles at that minute, and afterwards- she pressed play and the witch and bear disappeared completely- gone.

She strolled to the living rom and plunked onto the sofa, reaching out for the telephone. She dialed a number and waited.

"Cora." She said when the receiver picked up the phone. "I got the footage."

_"How are they?"_ Cora Devine replied. _"Are they any good?"_

Lindsey Garett smiled, and said, "Almost as good as us." The girl on the other end of the receiver paused, contemplating. After a while she coughed into the phone,

_"Tell Free."_ Cora replied, _"And call the Shinigami."_ she hung up.

Lindsey sighed, and then dialed his number. She adjusted her voice slightly, and hummed quietly to herself, waiting for the phone to be picked up.

_"Who is this?"_ Someone said curiously.

"H-hi." Lindsey mumbled in a faux voice. "U-um… This is the p-professional photographer…"

_"Oh."_ Kid replied. Did he give her his number? He couldn't remember doing that.

_"Give me a moment."_ and the receiver went silent. Kid called on Liz and Patty and they came running to his assistance.

'Elizabeth!" he barked. "Did you give that photographer my phone number?"

Liz frowned, and shook her head. "You mean Garett? I don't think so." Kid thanked her and returned to the call. _"How did you get my phone number?"_ He asked suspiciously.

"I um… called your school reception and they gave it to me. You're 'headmaster' now, aren't you?" Lindsey said in a 'so obvious' voice.

_"Um yeah, alright."_ Kid paused. _"What do you want?"_

"W-well…" Lindsay lowered her voice and said softly. "I was w-wondering if you and your weapons could meet me somewhere, and have lunch? I mean, there's this great photo-shoot thing and I'm thinking of taking you guys along since you're s-such a good model…" Lindsay murmured. "If you don't mind…" she trailed off and waited for his answer. He replied almost instantly with the words, _"Yeah sure, what time?"_

She was surprised by his trust in her. She would've thought he wouldn't have agreed so quickly.

"12 o'clock today at D…Deathbucks?" she said hesitantly, looking at the café's coupon in her other hand.

"Elizabeth!" She could hear the Shinigami call over his weapon. "We're going to DeathBucks for lunch. Bring Patty."

"Thank you so much!" she said into the phone, and hung up quickly. She smiled- her 'shy photographer' voice wasn't perfect yet, still needed altering but still… It was good enough to fool Death the Kid, right?

Perhaps...

* * *

"Kid!" Elizabeth said crossly as Death the Kid knocked on the door for the fourth time. "Kid, I'm not finished changing yet!"

"But you've been in the room for half an hour!" Kid groaned. "Just throw something on!" She ignored the Shinigami and looked to her sister for an answer.

"Patty," She asked. "Do I look better in red or green?"

"Just wear your cowgirl outfit sis!" Patty said. Liz shook her head and replied, "But that's in the wash. I need something else."

She ran her fingers through multiple layers of clothing hanging inside her closet, and slowly reached in for a low neck T-shirt and denim jeans.

"Maybe this one…" she paused for a moment and then slipped them on-

Kid couldn't take it any longer and burst into the room.

"LIZ!" He shouted angrily. "THIS IS SHINIGAMI ABUSE!"

"What?" She raised an eyebrow.

"YOU MADE ME WAIT OUTSIDE YOUR ROOM FOR HALF AN HOUR WHEN YOU ALREADY HAD YOUR SHIRT ON!"

"Excuse me?" Liz said. "I didn't ask you to wait for me outside. You could've just _left._"

"I CAN'T JUST LEAVE MY WEAPONS AT HOME! And… we're late." he stopped ranting and hurried out the room.

Elizabeth shrugged and followed behind, Patty at her side.

* * *

"Why Deathbucks?" Liz sighed. "We've been here thousands of times."

"Because we're meeting someone there." Kid huffed, stomping up the steps to the café. "And it isn't polite to refuse an invitation from a lady. Even if she isn't symmetrical."

They entered the café; tinkling chimes alerted the manager that a customer had arrived. He waved to them jauntily (He recognized both weapons as they had worked in his café before.) before returning to his table.

Kid scanned the room for the girl- there she was, sitting alone sipping tea at the farthest corner of the room. He took Liz's arm and dragged her with him to Lindsey Garett's table.

"Hello there." she waved to them and the three sat down. "We have things to discuss." She didn't bother hiding her real voice now- she could tell from the Shinigami's expression that he knew she was behind a disguise all along. She was… not a photographer. She had experience with cameras, obviously, but by no means a professional camerawoman. It seemed as though her professional photographer voice didn't work as well as she wanted- but no matter.

"What do you want?" He asked slowly. A waited brought him the menu- as well as a small slip of paper.

He read it slowly.

_Do not do anything suspicious (e.g bring Garett out of the café) or you and your weapons will be dealt with._

It chilled him to the core- not that they were threatening him, but the fact that they were threatening the Thompson sisters as well.

"Nothing much." The customers close to their table stopped talking and silently ate their food. The waiter bowed and took the menu away as well as the slip of paper. "Just need you to help out." Lindsey smiled, and leaned across the table, looking at Kid in the eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Lindsey Garett." She said matter-of-factly. "Professional 'photographer'."

"And help out for…" Kid waited for her answer. He could feel Liz and Patty go tense.

"We work for Free." Lindsey said. "Free and Eruka. Over the past year they've been forming a group for people like us… It's sort of like a gang…club." she corrected and drew back. Kid furrowed his brow.

_Free was a good man… At first he seemed like an enemy to the DWMA, but overtime he aided the Spartoi and even saved Maka's father and Mrs. Marie from the Black Blood. Kid had asked for his assistance in rebuilding Death City, but Free had plans of his own. He took Eruka with him and they disappeared into the desert- that was the last they saw of him._

"Anyway." she cleared her throat. "Eruka's been captured. Taken by another group stronger than our own. We've only just started, and our new recruits aren't powerful enough to take on those who attacked her."

"Where do we come in?" Liz interrupted. "Are we helping you rescue Eruka?"

Lindsey nodded. "Free told us about you. Said that the Shinigami would help."

"Why should I help you?" Kid said.

"Because Eruka is your former ally. She's a friend of the Shinigami-"

"Friend?"

"Acquaintance," Lindsey Garett rolled her eyes. "Of the Shinigami and she would prove to be useful in the coming battle."

"Battle?" Patty spoke up. "Are we beating anyone up?" the girl disregarded Patty's question.

"Help us, and we'll give you information." Lindsey finished. Kid looked down, thought about the deal and then,

"What kind of information?" Kid asked. "I honestly doubt it'll be useful to us right now. I'm quite sure you don't know who we're dealing with." Lindsey looked at him strangely, her eyes a mixture of anger and confusion.

"Ah, I see now." Lindsey stood. "You're still in your ignorant little world compromised of Spartoi and school."

"What did you say?" Kid stood as well, his face contorted with anger. "IGNORANT?"

"You heard me." Lindsey snarled. "Ignorant. You think you've got the situation down and everybody's safe now- don't look at me like that- And you're still throwing stupid parties in a crisis. You don't know who's died and who's alive, you aren't aware of the backstreet bad guys just around the corner and the people they mess with, you cry about your father but not everybody else's and you're already going to leave Death City when your people need your help." She gasped out of breath and stopped, her heart hammering inside her lungs. She was foolish, insulting the Shinigami, especially since she mentioned his father. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! _The girl thought to herself. But she couldn't hold it back, it was a boiling rage inside that caused her to strike.

Patty gasped in shock, as if something horrible had just happened (Well I guess something horrible _did_, but not the horrible she expected). Kid slowly sat back down, and Lindsey did the same, ignoring the stares they got from other customers in the café [A/N _Just a reminder that not everyone in the café is part of Lindsey's group!_]

"…Sorry." Lindsey awkwardly apologized.

"How do you know all these things?" Kid said after a while. "Have you been monitoring us?"

"Ever since day one of Eruka's disappearance, yes." Lindsey sighed. "I also recorded your fight with the witch."

"Why didn't you help us?" Liz said.

"Because I obviously should have since you're my _best friends_!" She said sarcastically. "Of course I didn't help you, not my business anyway. I was only there to see if you were good enough."

"And were we?" Liz asked. Lindsay waved her hands around, gesturing to the room.

"Well what do you think?" she said. "Why else would I bring you here? I you weren't worth it, I wouldn't have wasted even a second of my time with you."

"Hey, that wasn't very nice." Liz snapped.

"I don't have time to be nice." Lindsey shot back. "My friend is in a _dungeon_ and might _die_. I can't be _nice_ all the time."

"A-" Liz stared at the table embarrassed. "Alright then, we'll help you." she prodded Kid in the rib. "Right Kid?" The Shinigami said nothing, just stared at the girl across from him.

"Who are you?" Kid said.

"Not someone you know." Lindsey shrugged. "Now do we have a deal or not?"

"Why should I trust someone with my weapon's lives, when I don't even know who or what they are?" The Shinigami said in a lower voice. "What if you don't work for Free or Eruka? What if you decide to kill us the minute we walk out of the café?"

"Oh, you'll trust us." Lindsey said with a smile, and reached for something in her pocket. She took out a small circular mirror and tapped it three times. Free's face materialized on the screen. He was sleeping soundly.

"Free!" She said sharply and the man woke up with a jolt, and then took out a mirror identical to the one Lindsey was holding.

_"Garett?" _Free rumbled. _"I told you not to bother me-"_ he stopped mid-sentence when he saw Death the Kid, and his eyes widened in recognition.

_"Death the Kid?"_ he said in amazement.

"Oh my Shinigami…" Kid muttered under his breath. "It's Free." He hadn't seen the man since the end of the Kishin. Kind of a long time ago.

_"Kid, I know this is a bad time to be asking for your help but Eruka's in danger." _Free said in a low voice, then said to Lindsey, _"Have they agreed to the plan yet?"_

"Still hasn't." Lindsey shrugged, then turned to Kid saying, "But will you now?"

"I- I don't know." Kid stammered. "I need to stay in the city right?"

_"Actually, you don't." _Free said. _"I don't know much, but I do know that a kid like you shouldn't even be allowed to take over a city, even if he is the heir to his father's position."_

"Then who would be next in charge?" Kid bit his lip, frowning.

"Your head Professor, perhaps?" Lindsey said. "Or if you have a deputy head master…?"

"In that case, Spirit would be after your father." Elizabeth said.

_"Then you gotta tell him to stay. If he's next in charge of the school and city, then he shouldn't leave." _Free suddenly looked up- _"Holy-"_

_"Who's this?" _Someone else popped up in the screen and met face to face with Death the Kid. She had short chestnut hair and brown eyes, with a mark on her left cheek. Kid look at her astonished and they stared at each other for a second- then the connection was cut off and the mirror turned blank.

"Damn." Lindsey scowled and put the mirror back into her knapsack.

"Who was that?" Elizabeth questioned. "One of your men?"

"No…" Lindsey sighed. "It's a long story."

"Make it short then." Kid leaned back and crossed his arms. Lindsey nodded and explained.

"Free's infiltrated the group 'Six' and killed the member called 'First', replacing that man with himself. He's currently using his powers of illusion to disguise himself as that man. That girl you saw just now was one of the Six."

"Wow." Patty whistled. "Cool." And after a moment, "Is he gonna beat the Six up too?" Lindsey laughed and shook her head.

She looked back at Kid- and almost jumped in her seat. He was staring at the mirror as if it was a miracle, and he grasped his own face like he was fortunate to be alive. She had a feeling he was going to accept her proposal now.

"We accept." he said, still staring into deep space. Yep. She was right.  
"Great." Lindsey smiled widely. "And just to make sure…" she whipped out a sheet of paper and pen, sliding it across the table to the weapon/meister trio.

"You'll need to sign this as proof that you voluntarily agreed to assist us in the rescue of Eruka Frog." Kid nodded absentmindedly and signed the paper, but making sure that each letter was perfect.

"When do we start?" Liz said anxiously.

"Tomorrow." Lindsey replied, taking back the document and placing it in her bag. "Although we don't have much time left, Cora and I still need to work some things out with the team."

"Team?" Patty said. "Who else is coming?"

"Myself and my meister." she replied. "We're organizing the operation 'Rescue Eruka' after all." Kid stood and hurriedly dragged Liz and Patty to their feet.

"Sorry," he said to Lindsey. "But if Spirit stays then I need to get to him fast and tell him. He's leaving Death City in around 20 minutes."

"Go." Lindsey said, and thrust him a piece of paper. "On there is the time and location where we will be meeting you to start our rescue operation. I really hope you'll be there." Kid nodded and tucked the piece of paper in his pocket. Patty waved her last farewell before she disappeared from the room.

* * *

As soon as the trio left the café Kid summoned Beelzebub and the Thompson sisters changed into their demon weapon forms. They raced home as fast as they could, dodging the occasional passersby and streetlamp.

At last they reached their destination, and Kid ran up the steps to the DWMA, bursting through the doors to meet Stein and Spirit. Luckily they were still there, just about to set out. Kilik and Ox was with them, and the weapons in their demon weapon form.

"Spirit!" Kid gasped out of breath. "Spirit, you can't go. Let Marie go instead."

"What? Why not?" he said. Kid dragged him away while Stein looked at them with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Our former allies are in danger and people need our help. The Thompson sisters and I need to leave Death City and accompany them, but if we leave then no one will be in charge. Although we're in a rather dire situation, someone still needs to run the school." Kid explained.

"But the underground base!" Spirit exclaimed.

"No, no, no." Kid put a hand on his shoulder. "They have even more valuable information than all of ours put together."  
"How?" Spirit asked incredulously.

"Remember Free?" Spirit nodded solemnly. "He's infiltrated the 'Six.' He practically _lives_ in their underground base."

"Oh my god." Spirit said, shocked. "For how long?"

"We don't know, but whatever information they have, it's bound to be useful to us." Kid said. "So can you stay?" Spirit hesitated- then nodded slowly. Kid thanked him, then rushed off to the Death Mansion, head spinning. Spirit watched him, and slowly walked back into Lord Shinigami's room, where Stein, Kilik and Ox were waiting.

"So are you coming with us?" Stein asked. Spirit shook his head.

"I need to stay here. Kid's orders. You'll have to bring Marie with you." Stein nodded walked off, the two meisters following after him.

Spirit looked around the room- it was only him now. Only him and him alone. He walked up to Lord Death's mirror, and thought about him. Once in a while Spirit would accidentally talk to Lord Death, like he was still there. Although the two didn't always come to an agreement, Lord Death was one of his close friends apart from being his boss. Him not being there, well, it sort of bothered him a little.

Spirit unconsciously stroked the mirror's frame, and decided to call Maka. She would cheer him up.

A few seconds later a reflection of his daughter appeared on the mirror. She appeared to be in the hospital's bathroom.

"DAD!" She screamed. He shrieked.

"What!?" he said. "It's not like you're using the toilet!" She looked on angrily, and punched the mirror.

"What do you want?" she said crabbily. "No gifts, thank you. I've had enough lingerie from you."

"No, no." he laughed shakily and tried to act natural. But looking at his daughter just made him want to swoon, and praise her. "I just wanted to ask how you were doing." she didn't seem to trust him on that, and scowled in response.

"I'm alright." she said. "I'm going to leave now. Tsubaki's hurt." She waved a hand across the mirror and her reflection vanished, leaving him alone.

He sighed. He had hoped that his daughter would appreciate him more, but after all those incidents of buying perverted things and nose bleeding he wasn't the same ad he used to be. Now he was just her perverted dad.

Suddenly an idea popped up in his head. He took out something from his breast pocket- a piece of rumpled paper, and quickly wrote the number onto the screen. He squeezed his eyes shut and hoped she would be there.

"No." he heard her say, and before he had a chance to look at her she vanished. He sighed, and pressed his forehead against the mirror. He was alone now, no Lord Death, no Maka, not even Stein. Well at least Kami said _something, _even if it was just a simple word. He still remembered her fondly, as the truest love he ever had. No other woman would be as spectacular as she was.

But now she was gone.

"Why?" he whispered to the mirror. "Why am I so alone?"

The mirror did not reply.

* * *

_Slumber…_

Siesta Clandestine sighed and sank into her armchair. She was floating in her little world again, created the black armchair and a black TV, which only showed a black screen. The only thing with color was herself and her pretty pet. She closed her eyes, trying to relish the peaceful atmosphere.

But no, she couldn't. She was still in Gear 3. Although tired and exhausted from yesterday's fight with the Spartoi, she was angry. Her fists were still clenched and her eyes were still filled with fury.

She lowered her head and blindly reached for something behind her: a gear drilled into the back of her neck. There was an arrow painted onto one of the gear's edges, and a round circular plate beneath the gear with a full set of numbers ranging 1-10. It currently pointed at the number 3.

"Which one this time, Slumber? I think seven is a good choice…"

"F-fi…ve." Slumber growled.

"Alright, I'll do seven-" Slumber roared and stamped his feet, implying that the number seven should definitely not be chosen.

"Why do you want it to be five?" Siesta whined, her fingers feeling around for two sides of the gear so that she could spin it.

"Fi-ve…" Slumber growled menacingly, and she complied.

"You won't be the same." She reminded, and he nodded. She twisted the gear and it clicked soundly. A moment passed and she fell to the floor, and the glass of water she was holding hit the ground and smashed into pieces. Across from her, Slumber growled again, and suddenly he started to change. His front legs disappeared, and the bounteous fur coat began to fade away, revealing a thick brown jacket. Hands replaced the front legs and the bear's crouching position became a standing one. In Slumber's place was a man, with a slouch and depressing eyes. He looked away as Siesta started to twitch.

"Agh." Siesta groaned, and cracked her knuckles. "I hate shifting gears." She felt much more relaxed now, and faster… yes, a useful advantage. But as she stood up the weight in her hands seemed to have vanished, and she just knew that the unimaginable power she had only 12 hours ago was gone, speed replacing her strength instead.

"Life." She muttered. "Why can't I just have everything?" She looked up to see the man, his back to her.

"Oh." she wrinkled her nose. "You look horrendous." and she walked away into the darkness. The man followed her, and watched as she created thousands of things- from remote controls to buildings, to skyscrapers and then clouds.

"How come you didn't do this before?" he said. He had a low, rough quality to his voice.

"_Couldn't _is the better word." she replied. "Slumber, not everyone gets everything they want. I lost the strength I used to have." she clenched her teeth, but couldn't find the anger in herself a few moments ago. All that was left was her sad self and her low-spirited bear-turned-human.

"But the buildings." he said, and reached out to touch one.

"Not everyone can see them, Slumber. It's just you and me." She laughed, and Slumber watched as a bell tower crumbled to dust.

"And what have you gained?" he asked.

"Abnormal speed, higher magic tolerance and more magical skill." she said, and examined her fingernails. They were practically pulsing with energy; each twitch of a finger made her shudder.

Slumber walked up to her, reached out to touch her shoulder but she shrank away. He sighed, and then sat down on a nearby stool. She turned that one to dust as well, and felt the satisfying bump as he hit the ground.

"We're running out of time." he said, unaware of the throbbing pain that would soon settle on his behind. She growled and kneeled down, lowering her head and once again searching for the switch.

"I'll have to change into something more suitable for the both of us," she said. "What about Gear 8? That one makes me feel all sleepy."

"What will change?" he said. She didn't reply, simply trying to get a grip on the gear dial.  
"Will I be human again?" he said sadly. She stopped fidgeting.

"What does it matter?" she replied harshly. "I am your mother, so do as I say-"

"You're really not." he said, and suddenly she felt his hand on hers, slowly prying her fingers off the gear's edged.

"Don't touch that." she snapped, and stumbled away from him, trying to shift gears again. She finally got her hands around the gear, and spun it so the dial landed on number 8. Again, she fell to the floor, but this time she hit the floor of reality. The black around her was gone, and her head rested against a carpeted floor. She was at home now, a small cottage in an alternate universe. Of course she wasn't given this room- switching between dimensions was an extremely difficult skill that she had no knowledge of- only the master knew how to do it. She relied on him to open the gateway between the two worlds.

Behind her Slumber roared in his cage. She turned around and shook her head, smiling at him. He didn't understand.

"You may not like it," she said and went up to him, "But it has to be like this." she went up to him and stroked his fur-

Then reeled back in shock as she stroked metallic skin. Electricity and fire shot up her arm and she yelped in pain, examining her hand as burns and bruises started to form. She looked up angrily and Slumber met her angry gaze with his. Siesta looked away and stormed off.

"You may hate me now," Siesta shouted to him as she left. "But we obey the master. So do as I say." with that she slammed the door behind her and went out the cottage. A lush forest surrounded her home, but she never really bothered exploring it. She was too busy to look at a few leaves and flowers.

"Ess." she turned around to see Slumber again, but in his human form.

"Don't call me that!" she said and stumbled away from him and reached for her dial- no, of course it wasn't there. It could only be used in her black dimension.

"How are you doing that?" she hissed. "Go back!" she threw a stick at him and he flinched. "Give me Slumber back!" He looked at her sadly.

"But I am Slum-" he jerked suddenly and a piece of fur popped out of his skin on his right arm. She laughed.

"That's right!" she jeered. "You have no place here, human." He looked up at her- his teeth were starting to change as well, but not as fast as the skin on his face. The larger jawbone caused his skin to split and blood spilled down his chin. He didn't flinch, merely gazed at her as his eyes turned black.

"Ess, it's me." he said and growled angrily. Fur started to grow around his face and his ears grew into furry round shapes.

"Grow, Slumber!" Siesta cackled. "Come back to me!" The bear roared and after a momentary flash of light it returned to its normal beast shape.

"Mo-Mo-" it grunted. Siesta smiled, and reached out for something in her pocket. She produced a cold, frozen soul and the bear sucked on it greedily.

"Yes darling?" she replied, and pat him on the head. "Don't worry. The human won't bother you anymore." Something sparkled below her and she gasped. A bauble around her neck was glowing brightly, trembling.

"Whatever." she said, and shoved the necklace into her shirt. Then, she took out her phone from her coat-pocket, and dialed a number.

"I need out…" she said into the microphone, and a vast black space appeared in front of her. It was round and circular, and through it she could see a pathway to the other universe.

"Come along dear," she said and hopped into the circle. She landed squarely on her feet, and looked down. Below was nothing but emptiness, much like her black dimension.

As she walked farther away from the cottage, Slumber growled again and dropped the solid soul, but she was out of earshot.

"Mo-Mo-" the letters were forced. He could hear in his throat, pushing their way into his mouth.

"Mo-Mothe-" he tried to swallow but it didn't work. At last he blurted the words out,

"Mother…" another beast took over and Slumber faded away. Another creature took his place. The bear with his voice.

"Mother…" the bear spoke once more and padded to his mommy.

* * *

_The overlord speaks._

"What are you doing here?" Siesta muttered as she entered her master's home.

"I work for him." Medusa said. "Same as you." She flashed Siesta a small smirk.

"Happy to be back in your female form?" The sloth witch said. Medusa nodded happily, fiddling with the large braid she plaited. After spending a night at a bar she managed to seduce a drunken young woman, and finally got rid of the hideous manly figure she was attached to.

They entered the grand hall of the master's castle at the same time, eager to see their leader's face. Siesta had never worked under anyone before, she didn't quite remember being lead by anyone other than herself. She just did as she pleased, with Slumber at her side.

_Sit._

The slithery voice of their leader made Siesta tremble, and she almost toppled over Medusa. Two chairs whooshed out from the darkness and rammed into the two witches, causing them to fall into the cushiony seats.

_What do you have for me?_

"If I may-" Siesta started.

"Well I'm quite well today," Medusa butted in, and the Sloth Bear witch shot her a dark look. "After evading the meister/weapon duo Spirit and Stein, I relocated to my old desert underground. I currently have a witch hostage there, where she cleans my bed sheets. She's trying to poison me, but she's actually really nice." A low rumble erupted from the darkness ahead, and Medusa assumed it was laughing.

"If I may." Siesta glared at Medusa.

_Go on._

"After running away from the Spartoi-" Medusa chuckled at this point, and Siesta swung a fist at her. The snake witch dodged it expertly and smiled at her amusedly.

"As I was saying," Siesta carried on, "After escaping I went back to my little dimension and shifted gears again."

_Which one?_

"Gear 8." the darkness bobbed up and down.

_Shift to seven._

"But Slumber doesn't-" The darkness shook and Siesta complied, resting her head back into the armchair-

* * *

_Seven~_

Siesta reappeared in the dark empty space, and Slumber looked at her with sad round eyes.

"What's the matter sweetie?" she said, stroking his fur. "The man isn't bothering you anymore, is he?"

He shook his head, and sat down. She knelt down as well, and once again reached for the gear in her neck. Her hands seemed awfully clumsy; she just couldn't get a hold of the gear's sides…

Finally she clicked Gear 7 into place, and crumpled to the ground.

"Don't-" She whipped her head around and saw the man again- He was quite disturbing really. He reached out a hand, trying to touch her but the witch shrank back. Her eyelids felt heavy and she knew she was going to lose consciousness soon.

"Go away-" she said and fainted.

The man sat there in the darkness and waited for her to wake up, but she didn't. He sighed. Gear 7 was one of the most difficult Gears to shift into.

_Slumber?_

He cocked his head to a side and turned around slowly. A woman was there, sitting cross-legged on a small armchair. She was a petite, nimble-looking woman, but her face implied that she was much stronger than what her appearance showed.

"Who are you?" he said dully. "Is this Ess?" he looked back at the witch, but she was still asleep. She would be asleep for a long time, until she shifted gears again.

_I'm not Ess. _The woman hopped off the seat- she seemed very light. When she jumped it was almost as if she floated down.

"Who are you?" he asked again. "If not Ess, than who?"

_My name is… _Suddenly something vibrated in her left pocket, and she looked at it in surprise.

She dug deep into her shirt and took out a small cell-phone. Slumber frowned. Usually cell-phones didn't work in the black space. There was no service, not unless Siesta created some.

_Ugh. _She looked up at Slumber's puzzles expression. _Family matters._

She flipped it open- he could see now why it worked. This wasn't a cellphone- it was a mirror of some sorts. One for makeup, when applying lipstick.

Slumber nodded solemnly. He knew these things; living with a witch for over 800 years taught him about the many pleasures woman took part in. Dressing up was a very common pleasure as well.

_No. _She said at the mirror and clamped it shut. A sigh emanated from her mouth and she sat back down again. _Sorry. _She looked up at Slumber.

"You can." he finally realized.

_Sorry, what?_

"You can… 'be'." he said, gesturing at her body. "Only I can do that in here." she laughed at him.

_It took a while. _She said. _And I'm not fully here. You can tell by my voice._ It was a float-y, ghost-like voice.

"Have you been…" he made small gestures with his hands, as if capturing a small insect. She chuckled and nodded.

_I'm trapped in her necklace, yes. And I need your help to escape._

"I don't know." he shifted uncomfortably. "Ess won't let me." he looked at Siesta again. She was still sleeping.

_If you do, I can fix her. _He stiffened at the mention of fixing.

He wanted her to be fixed.

He did not want to be her pet anymore.

After a moment of hesitation, he turned to the woman. She was flickering now- she couldn't hold her image here any longer. He wondered if Siesta would notice something.

"What is your name?" he said.

A frown replaced her smile.

* * *

_I am different now._

_I am not the woman I once was._

He shrugged.

_My name…_

_I think I used to be called…_

_Kami._

She smiled before flickering into nonexistence.

* * *

**Sososo sorry there's a lot of storytelling going on. Not much action right now, but there might be some in the next chapter (Which I am currently starting ;3)**

**R&amp;R guys~ **


	8. In control

**Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater. The manga belongs to its rightful owner.**

**Notes below.**

* * *

**Chapter 8: In control.**

_Operation Eruka Frog – Night before._

"You see, Liz, think of symmetry-casual as something like business-casual. Except completely symmetrical."

"Kid, you do realize that a lot of business casual clothes are quite 'symmetrical' right? I mean a tie and a blazer looks pretty symmetrical to me-" Elizabeth suddenly stood up, her face a mixture of shock and slight disgust. "Oh. My god."

"What?" Kid said, irritated by her sudden change in composure. "You didn't finish."

"I just said something." She said abruptly. "That you would normally say."

"And?" he raised an eyebrow. Nothing strange there. She always said these things nowadays, just never noticed.

"I just said it looked 'pretty symmetrical'." She then looked at Kid, as if he had an answer to whatever problem she seemed to be having.

"Nothing wrong there." He shrugged.

"I'm starting to SPEAK like you!" she shrieked. "I can't have that!"

"Why not?" he said, slightly hurt.

"Because you're just so-" she paused. "So…" she sat back down.

"So…?" he was demanding an answer now. He would stay put and stare until she gave him one.

"Nothing." She grumbled. "Just go sleep. It's time. For you, anyway."

"Why is it time for me but not you?" he asked.

"Have you been looking at the clock!?" she said exasperatedly. "It's 8, go to sleep."

"I'm not going to sleep until you tell me what you want to say." He sniffed, although he winced as the clock struck 8:01.

"Well I don't want to say it anymore." She sighed, and her eyes drifted back to her phone-screen.

"What is it?" he pestered. There was no way he could sleep now. Only wait until 8AM. Which of course, was a bad idea, but the only way to maintain his schedule. There was no way he'd step into his bedroom at 8:01- no, it was 8:02 now. An even more horrendous group of digits.

"You'd just get mad at me if I told you." She rolled her eyes- typical of Liz. She really needed to restrain that eye-rolling habit of hers.

"Well then." He swallowed. "I'll do my best to listen." She eyed him suspiciously, and nodded slowly as he continued to stare persistently. She shifted into a comfortable position that faced him, and spoke.

"Obsessed." Was the first word she said.

"Obsessed." He repeated. Of course he was obsessed. Why shouldn't he be? Symmetry was order, and order meant being perfect, which was the best status to possibly achieve- to be perfect.

"With this number-" she typed an 8 into her digital note-pad and shoved it into his face. "And these words." It was written below the number- symmetry + perfection.

He stared at them both, still confused.

"Yes, I am obsessed with these. So is that such a bad thing?"

"IT IS." She sighed. "I mean for us, at first, it's weird. Then we get to know you, and it's _not_ that weird. But after a while, well, I thought you'd lose that tic."

"Well- I'm getting better." He frowned, eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "I mean, I don't eat symmetrical cereal for breakfast, since you and Patty keep buying the alphabet shaped cereal puffs that I hate but eat anyway." She groaned and placed a hand over her face.

"You know that's not what I meant." She sighs, and turned away.

"Then what do you mean?" Kid pestered, poking her rib.

"Let's leave this conversation for another time." She grumbled. "It's late for you." Liz stood and dragged Kid with her, and they went up the grand staircase together. As they passed the grand hallway to their rooms Liz ushered Kid into his room before slamming the door shut. Kid sighed as her footsteps faded away.

A sudden uncontrollable need to yawn entered his brain and he opened his mouth wide; feeling tired for the first time that evening.

"Elizabeth was righhhhhh…" he slurred, trudging forwards.

As he walked to bed he passed his desk and stopped, hovering over the neatly stacked papers and pens. After a moment's hesitation he thrust out a hand and watched slowly as a pen rolled out of place. Another minute ticked by and he reached across the desk, fingers holding down the white sheets of lined paper. He dragged. The paper slid forwards. It now tilted at a sixty-degree angle to the right and he gulped. Kid stared for what seemed like an entire 2 minutes before sitting down on his fluffy mattress and wondering what the hell he was doing.

"Mm." he grunted and shrugged his shoulders before rolling over and going to sleep.

* * *

_Going upstairs._

"I'm going upstairs now," she said loudly to the empty space. A muffled voice sounded from the door across from her, saying, "I know Patty, you said that just now."

Patricia Thompson skipped up another flight of stairs, pausing right in front of her own bedroom. She liked where she lived. It was spacious and empty, with her plushies lined up on a shelf backed against a wall to her right. Across from there was a massive drawer that contained all of her other belongings, such as decapitated giraffes and piles of paper with meaningless drawings scribbled onto them.

Patty's name was written on each paper, on the top left corner just like her sister had told her to do, like a code she wasn't supposed to break. She had done this before Kid, too. Before they were rescued she would scavenge for bits of scrap paper and use her only unbroken crayon- the yellow one- and scribble for hours. Her sister could never really tell what she was drawing; she was in fact, not drawing anything at all. But she was 'imagining'. And that was good enough.

She absentmindedly looked through her pieces of art, and suddenly a crumply slip of paper fell out of the drawer. She stooped down to pick it up, only then realizing that it was a piece of leftover paper lunch bag. The yellow was hard to see, but as she glared at it in the light she could see traces of crayon trail make lines in the paper. A sudden memory of the past floated to her head, and a series of bloody aftermaths replayed above her eyes as she clutched the paper in a dreamlike state.

But that was enough reminiscing. She had work to do.

Patty entered her room quietly, drew the curtains and shut the door. She looked around- a hundred pairs of eyes stared back, but they were friendly. Jeffy never hurt anybody.

"Don't tell anyone." She hissed at her stuffed toys, and they nodded back vigorously- well that was what she thought they did; in reality they didn't even twitch. The demon-weapon reached inside her inner-jacket pocket and took out the small pamphlet on -blood. It was useless to everyone now, apart from her.

She was the only black one who could properly read it, after all.

_With a deep breath, she drew back the curtains-_

And of course, was stopped after hearing the cries of Kid telling them to change into afternoon clothing to visit Lindsey, the weapon girl. She was a weapon, wasn't she? She did say something about her meister joining them after all.

And now, she had to do it again.

_Hey. You there? _She wrote casually, hoping the other person would receive her note.

Sure enough, only a few seconds later a sentence faded into view, written in shaky lettering.

_I'm outside. Your window. Let me in? _

This felt dangerous. Granted, almost everything in this world was dangerous, but there were some _particularly _dangerous things that Patty had considered, for example getting a magical letter from a mysterious person she didn't know that could've actually stalked her- I mean, who knew where her window was anyways?

But well, she could take a risk. She liked risks.

_Sure._

And with that, she drew back the curtains once more.

"Crona?"

He was there, clutching the window frame with white knuckles and thin fingers. He looked older, taller, leaner… different.

"Please don't kill me-" He started, a little desperate.

"Well this is annoying." Patty frowned. "And I was getting so riled up about saving you too."

"I-"

"How did you get from the moon to my window?" Patty's frowned deepened, and she stared at him with a pout on her lips. "That's just not fair. Now the game's ended and I haven't even started playing."

"But I-" Crona's mouth opened again but was soon interrupted by Patty.

"And you don't look alive or well either. Medusa lied again, didn't she? Speaking of Medusa, how in the world did you end up here? Aren't we supposed to save you? You look pretty saved to me-"

"Please stop talking." Crona whimpered, letting out a strange, strangled cry. Patty shrugged.

"Well I'm just a little curious and disappointed." She said, looking down at her feet. "I thought we were going to save you, but here you are. Looking pretty saved."

"Well I'm not!" Crona snapped, and his voice rose. "I'm not saved, I'll never-" suddenly his eyes widened and he stumbled off the window frame, crashing to the floor of Patty's bedroom. A strange, visible black aura surrounded him, and he started to gag, hands going to his neck where invisible fingers seemed to be squeezing his throat. Patty backed away in fright, hands reaching for the doorknob.

"N-no!" Crona gasped, reaching for her. "P-please, wait!" A spasm of pain contorted his face and he writhed in agony, nails digging into the floorboards. Patty watched in horror as the aura grew, surrounding him. Flickers of red light appeared and formed a ring of thorns around his chest. Patty could see them pierce through his left lung.

"aahAAAAHHH!" he screamed a blood-curdling scream that sent shivers down Patty's spine.

"Too loud!" Patty shrieked, but doubted that he could hear her. "You're too loud! Sis is gonna-"

The room exploded in red light, and Patty couldn't help it but scream as well. This was too strange, to unreal. Crona in her room, Crona in a bubble, Crona talking, Crona walking, thorns, thorns, thorns-

The red light faded but Patty's scream continued to echo inside her bedroom. The sound reverberated against the walls and the windowpanes trembled. The lights in her eyes made old memories resurface, the thorns that punctured his bleeding lung could only remind of _that _time, and _that _time, and _those times too_-

_Back in the past where pain was a daily occurrence and blood was the second to none option. Back in the past where stabbing would reward and saving someone would be considered a taboo- at least in Liz's eyes, it was._

As she screamed Crona disappeared in a flash of white light, the scratch marks on the floorboards fading away.

* * *

The door burst open and Liz barged into the room, Kid following behind her.

"What's going on?" Liz said, but Patty continued to scream. "Patty, talk to me." She knelt beside her sister and spoke softly next to her. Kid stormed to the window and flung it open, the squeaking of old hinges sounding. There was no one in sight, neither above nor below; it was pitch black outside and no stars shone tonight. The moon was there, high up in the air, grey light streaming through cracks in the black blood sphere.

"Who did this?" The Shinigami said in a dangerously low voice. "Who would dare?"

"Kid-" Liz started.

"C-C-" Patty cried out, and her screaming ended abruptly. "I-"

"Shh…" Liz pressed her fingers against Patty's lips, using her free hand to stroke her hair in a motherly manner. "It's okay. You don't have to say anything." Patty sniffed and rested her head on the older weapon's shoulder. She rarely cried like this.

"Hah." She tried to smile but could get her face muscles to move. It was as if her mouth had gone almost numb. "I'm okay."

Kid crouched next to Elizabeth, his mouth set in a grimace.

"Patty." He said in a low voice. "Who did this to you?"

She opened her mouth-

And closed it.

Was it the thorns? She didn't dare say, she didn't dare retell the horrible things she saw.

The thorns, the red, the black.

The darkness.

"Patty." Her sister's voice broke into her thoughts, and Patty turned to stare into her sister's light blue eyes. She was smiling. Patty could see her shaking, her whole figure seemed as if it was going to collapse. Elizabeth Thompson was scared, and she knew.

Scared of what?

"I just want to know what you saw." Liz said. "Can you tell me?"

Patty stared into the eyes; they seemed almost hypnotizing. She saw tears streaking down Elizabeth's face. Why was she crying?

Did she do something wrong?

Maybe… if she told her she would stop crying.

"Thorns."

* * *

_That took a long time._

"Okay, boys." the scientist stared at the two boys behind him. "Time to get cracking." Professor Stein, Ox Ford and Kilik Rung stood at the edge of the city, their shoes slowly filling up with sand.

"Why'd you wear sneakers, Ox?" Kilik sighed. "You knew we were going to be camping out in the desert."

"They fit my shirt." Ox sniffed, and flattened the creases on his clothes. "And so do my pants. Sandals just won't do." He looked at Kilik's own sandals with disgust.

"Way to be practical, Ox." Harvard said from the spear's hilt. "I told you not to wear them."

"Why is this sand so smoking hot?" Ox sighed. "If only it was a little cooler." he shuffled forward, the sand in his sneakers weighing him down. It was midday, and they still hadn't reached their destination- the Six's hideout. According to Free, the Six had been moving across the desert for several days now, and set up camp at night. In the morning they would leave and continue traveling. Their ginormous base, however, was located in an ancient pyramid in the middle of the desert, several meters underground.

What astonished Professor Stein the most was that the Six seemed to have incredible endurance and stamina. They had been walking in the desert for just around a week now and only had turnip and lettuce to live on. He, on the other hand, would be dying for dissected meat. And a sufficient water supply. Stein checked his back again, fingers stroking the small water bottles in his rucksack, then pushed them away and closed his eyes. _Water later, only when needed._

"Why is their base in the _middle of the desert_!?" Ox groaned. "THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT!"

"Because of people like you." Havar replied bluntly. "You seem to dislike this heat. Therefore you wouldn't mind turning back and staying indoors with the air conditioning on."

"He's right, Ox." Stein grinned. "That way no one will want to find o- their base." suddenly his Incom [A/N: wiki/Incom _Incase you don't know/forgotten what this is_] sounded and Stein raised a hand to his right ear.

"Azusa? Find anything?"

_"You're almost there. Keep walking-zzz" _The sudden static made him jerk his head away from the ornate Demon Tool.

"What's wrong with this thing?" Stein grumbled. "It almost zapped my ear back there."

_"Sorry. Somebody just- you know what, keep moving. A few more meters…" _Stein strode forward, Kilik and Ox following closely behind. _"There." _Stein looked down expectantly, hoping to see some sort of underground tunnel. Instead there was only sand.

"Hey, I thought it was in an underground pyramid?" Ox wondered aloud. "This isn't a pyramid."

"Do you really think this is the middle of the desert?" Stein sighed, and pointed to Death City, which could still be seen over the sand dunes. "If we were in the middle of the desert, Death City wouldn't be visible."

_"We discovered an alternate route- it's combined with some old tunnels that people never finished. But you'll still have to get to the pyramid. It'll just take less time."_

"Alright, what now?" Stein poked at the sand beneath him, letting it sift through his toes.

_"This is where Kilik will come in handy. And Marie, for the matter. Tell the boy to stand where you are." _Stein did so and shuffled over slightly so Kilik could take his place.

"Uh… Professor Stein?" Kilik raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Be quiet." he said irritatingly. "I'm listening to the Incom."

_"Well I've given you the spot, Stein. What do you do now?" _Stein whined an incoherent response, to which she replied, _"Don't be stupid; use your brain." _The hammer at his side glowed a bright white and dissolved into Marie Mjolnir, who stooped down to examine the sand.

"She probably means we have to create our own path down there." She looked up at Kilik and stepped back, waiting for something to happen.

"So I punch a hole here, then?" she nodded unsurely, and looked at Stein for a confirmation.

"Why not." he said, and Kilik bobbed his head, letting Fire and Thunder shape themselves around his fists as they reverted into their weapon forms. He raised his arms and swung the pots hard into the ground, his feet flailing as he lost his grip on the sand, which seemed to have exploded outward and was now pelting the group with grit and dust.

_"Tell him to keep going." _Azusa's voice crackled in the Incom and Stein shouted to Kilik, who continued to smash his way down the sand.

"You've got to keep punching, Kilik!" Stein raised his voice, a hand placed before his eyes to shield himself from the rain of sand. Ox Ford leapt back and shielded himself behind Stein's great white lab coat, attempting to use it as a shield in hopes of deflecting the bits rock that came flying towards him.

It was only a matter of time before the pounding subsided, but it followed a great shriek ["Sounds like Kilik." Harvar mumbled]and an ungraceful landing by the Pot meister.

* * *

Kilik's fist hit the ground once, more, but this time it hit solid, concrete ground- that was blasted to bits as it made contact with his knuckles. His knees collided with the ground and a sharp pain wracked his bones; he rolled over in agony.

"Are you okay?" Ox's voice seemed so distant. Kilik stood- the base entrance was shallow and his head surfaced to the open air. He looked round- of course it was distant. He was more than a few meters away.

"It's fine." Kilik motioned for the rest of the group to come over, and Stein jumped into the entrance.

The hole Kilik had dug was quite large and spacious. In fact, even after the whole team had jumped into the pit there was room for more.

"There." Harvard spoke, and motioned towards a darker space further ahead. Stein walked forward and stuck a hand through the space- it was empty. He groped around for an edge.

"It seems to me," he turned and smiled. "That we've found a secret passageway."

"About time." Kilik grumbled. "Let me go first, I dug the hole." He gently pushed Ox aside, groping at the dark cavern beneath the sand. He lifted his arm and felt the space above him, soon making contact with a smooth, hard ceiling. There seemed to be some sort of metal structure above that was holding the sand in the position. It seemed almost impossible that the metal hadn't collapsed under all that sand piling over it- and the structure looked pretty flimsy too.

"Looks weird, but it's worth a go." Kilik said as he observed the tunnel. Stein nodded to him and entered the cave first, eyeing the sides of the tunnel warily. It was horribly dark in here, and he couldn't see a thing.

"Alright Azusa, we're in." Stein spoke into the Incom. A shaky, almost inaudible, crackling voice answered.

_"Great. Now I'd just like to ask you a question." _Stein raised his eyebrows at the comment but nodded slowly. "Shoot."

_"Why the hell would people make tunnels under sand? For what purpose?"_

"I don't know." Stein shrugged. "You tell me." A long sigh sounded on the other end of the receiver.

_"They don't."_ Stein nodded. Sure they didn't. So why was there a tunnel underneath a sand dune?

"This is a trap, isn't it?" He said slowly.

_"I'm afraid Professor Stein is already on his way to the underground base. Unfortunately he seems to think that the Spartoi will only be a distraction- a literal one." _Stein looked up from the Incom, suddenly realizing that he was in the tunnel, all by himself.

"Well." He growled, the projection of Franken Stein flitting on and off. "Looks like it wasn't good enough." He turned just in time to see Kilik exit the tunnel.

_"Of course, Stein using the restroom behind a particularly large sand dune was never part of the plan. But well, I figured as much would happen." _Kess, Fifth of the Six scowled, fingers flying as he tried to keep the projected image of Stein upright.

_"Seeing the sand fall through your face was enough, really. And also, you're wearing the Incom wrong. That's why everything sounds static." _

Ox exited the cave, but the projection of Stein stayed put. There was no use, following them out. They already knew, after all. The image of Stein continued to flicker, growing rapidly unstable.

_"I mean, who wears an earpiece upside down?"_ He watched as Kilik delivered two solid punches to the ground below the tunnel's entrance, watching in annoyance as the light from outside disappeared. Clumps of sand hit the ground, grits flying outwards. He glared at the meisters before switching off the hologram and fading into the darkness.

* * *

"He shouldn't be too far away." Ox told Azusa, his own Incom securely in place. "If the Six are illusionists like Free, they must use Spatial magic too."

_"Yes, that's what I'm thinking too. But that's not important right now." _Ox and Kilik broke into a run, starting the trek across the sand dunes.

_"You'll reach your destination in a few minutes. I'll meet you there." _They laughed as they started their journey towards the Runaway Train's deserted station.

* * *

_Seconds?_

"Stay away, Jamie!" A flustered Nico backed away from Jesamelia, Second of the Six. "Step back!" he tried to shout, but his voice was drowned out by the mini storm. First had gone out for a walk, or so it seemed. He had been acting a little strange lately, telling the Six to relax more, to spend the long nights around a warm bonfire, going so far as to sing Jamie and him to sleep.

_You're so young_. He recalled the older Illusionist mutter. _You shouldn't be out here._

_But Ms. C told us to. _Nico replied stubbornly. _We need to help her- she promised me… _he remembered trailing off at that point, not wanted to say her promise. Of course it wasn't that big a deal, it was just… well. It didn't matter.

"It won't hurt, Nico." Jamie said, taking another two steps closer to the teen. "It won't hurt if I don't want it to."

"But it'll hurt later!" He cried out as she reached at the sandstorm, rolling out of the way. They were at their underground base, waiting for the rest of the Six to come back from their expeditions. The base was huge, and built so that Nico could properly reside in it. There was even a space, just for him.

_No bed though… _he thought as he tripped over a chair and hit the ground with a thud. _Or pillow_.

"I just want to touch you." Jamie pouted, her frown barely visible through the sandstorm. "Like, feel a hand or something. I mean I can barely even see you through this thing!"

Nico sighed. There was no use trying to ignore her. She was so stubborn.

"I can calm the storm down, but only for a few seconds." Her face lit up as he said that.

He closed his eyes, concentrating more strongly of the thought of the sand fading, the storm calming. He concentrated Jamie's face, framed by her dark brown hair and brown eyes behind the veil of sand that obscured her face.

The noise stopped. Wind died.

He opened his eyes, peering through the scarf tied around his head. After a moment's hesitation, he took it off.

The sand stirred in small piles around him, still restless as ever. As he looked up he could hear a gasp of surprise; meeting Jamie's face.

"That's amazing!" she almost squealed. "It's not an illusion?!"

"N… no it's not." He jerked back as she reached out a hand, like it was a poisonous snake closing in for the kill. "But… this has never happened before."

He felt her finger tracing the shadows on his face. It was awkward really, when they had other things to do like scan the outer area for intruders, or check on the food supply incase First had to teleport and get more food.

A sudden whoosh of air past his face made him open his eyes- where grains of sand pelted him in the face and struck his eyes.

"Aah!" he yelled in surprise as the sand shot upwards, and Jesamalia screamed suddenly and yanked her hand back right as the sand tore through her skin with unimaginable speed. The noise of the whirlwind rose as her screams became mute. He could only gaze in horror as she stumbled backwards in fright clutching her bleeding arm- and the jagged scratch that started at her elbow and ended at her wrist. The blood dripped down her jacket as she looked at the mixture of sand, blood and dust color the bottom of her white jacket in a dark, dark red.

He walked backwards and toppled over a chair. The sand immediately rushed from around him to his back, breaking his fall and lowering him gently to the ground, then created a semi-circular barrier around him.

"Are- Are you okay!?" Nico scrambled to his feet, the sand moving with his own pace as he hurried to Jamie's side. Her arm was still dripping in red as she tried to dab it in a wet cloth and wrap it up in silk cloth. She retreated as he came towards her, gesturing towards the wave of sand that circled him menacingly.

"I'm fine!" she shouted, a little louder so he could hear. "I'm perfectly fine." He could tell by the way her eyes darted back and forth that she was scared of being hurt again.

"Can I help you with anything? Do you need bandages?" He started walking towards the cupboard but she reached it before he did, standing in front of the cupboard as if she was protecting it.

"You…" she hesitated. "The sand might break it. I'll get it, don't worry." Her trembling fingers closed around the coil of cloth and she dashed to a corner to treat her wound. As Nico stepped back, he turned around-

The room was a mess.

The sand was everywhere, lying around the room scattered in heaps where he fell over the chair. It was getting less… _clingy_, which was more of a problem than a good thing. And as he looked through the thick film of sand, he wondered exactly how much he had brought in with him. Looking above at the ceiling he also noticed the deep scratch marks in the cement above, with even large flakes of paint peeled off leaving a clear trail of where he had been around the room.

As he opened his mouth there was a flash of light as the First appeared on the couch, tumbling off it in surprise as he landed on the sand covered ground.

* * *

Free stood up abruptly and shook off the remaining grit from his pants, looked up and observed. The large roll of bandages was unraveled, hanging on Jamie's arm, and Nico looked positively dreadful.

"I can explain!" Jamie burst out, hiding her hand behind her back.

"Let's get you cleaned up first." Free grimaced, running his hand through his hair. He trudged towards them, every step crunching the grains of sand underneath his thick boots. Nico started towards him too but Free motioned to step back. The sand followed his every footstep.

"I did tell you not to do anything weird, kiddo." He sighed as he asked Jamie for her hand.

"Have you washed it yet?" he asked her, and she shook her head. He motioned towards the bathroom and she hurried over.

"You're lucky it wasn't that deep." Free said to Nico. The dark haired boy gritted his teeth and stared at the ground in frustration. Nothing he ever did seemed right.

Nothing.

"Hey." Free motioned for Nico to look up. "At least your tornado isn't picking up anymore sand. Or else you really would have destroyed this place." The young boy still didn't speak, looking at him through a thinner film of grit and brown specks.

"Look, kid, it's not that important." Free sighed. "Just focus on the mission for now."

"… What exactly are we supposed to do?" Nico replied exasperatedly. "All we've done is… confuse a bunch of kids."

"Your mission isn't that simple, Nico." Free turned to him and placed his hands on Nico's shoulders, looking him directly in the eye. "As her followers you need to be precise and do your job."

"But what's our job?" Jamie walked back into the living room, and Free stood, holding out the bandages.

"On second thought, I'm not medic. You better take care of this yourself." She nodded and began to wrap the bandage around her arm. The pool of red blood was still evident on the floor, but her arm was free of it.

"You know what she wants." Free sat back down to continue the conversation.

"Souls." Nico answered. "That's what she says every single day."

"_You don't understand what a delicacy they are._" Jamie mimicked. Free chuckled at the imitation, cleared his throat and continued.

"And the stronger the soul?" Free waited for their answer.

"The more energy she can retain in her necklace," Nico followed.

"And therefore use as her power source to control her Gear mode." Jamie finished. She shrugged and said, "We know all this. Miss C told us all about her problem."

"It's not a problem." Free reminded with a smirk,

"_It's just a 'condition'!_" Nico chortled, and the two Illusionists laughed with him. When Jamie had further questioned 'Miss C' about her Gear mode, Siesta had calmly explained that it was a little hard to control, which then lead to Jamie complaining about her problem. This discussion then rose to an argument as Siesta protested against Jamie's remark ["If you can't control it then wouldn't that be a problem for us as your followers? What if you can't execute your plan if you get stuck in a certain 'Gear' mode or something!?"]. Finally, the infamous phrase rose as Siesta howled, "It's not a problem, damn it, it's JUST A CONDITION!".

"Right." Free said, getting back on track. "And you may not know this, but the bunch of kids you cast your Illusions on are pretty well known."

"Seriously?" Jamie's jaw dropped. "I thought they seemed pretty dumb, falling for such an amateur illusion and all."

"It's only a beginner's act to us, but they don't know about Illusionist witches." Free nodded. "Anyways, there are three souls within that group that are crucial to Siesta's plan."

"Who are they?" Nico said, leaning towards him in curiosity. "They're only just as old as us, how can they be so important?"

"Witch rumor has it that those three souls are so strong that they could grant a witch immense power, if they knew how to use it." Free said.

"But-" Jamie interrupted. "The ability to use a drain a soul's life energy as a power source… that magic was banned like, a few 300 years ago. I doubt any witch now could perform this." At the mention of 300 years, Nico's eyes widened and he stood abruptly, knocking over the badly placed table beside him.

"Miss C- Miss Clandestine." Nico frowned. "How old is she? Witch years, I mean."

Free paused before answering uncertainly, "Possibly over a thousand years old."

"A thousand!?" Jamie exclaimed, also jumping to her feet. "But I thought the Shinigami's Witch hunting experiment had killed them all!" Free simply shook his head.

"Lady Arachnid, the spider witch, was around 800 years old during the Witch hunting yet she survived as well, albeit not without wounds. Lady Clandestine simply went into hiding a lot earlier, though Luck may have played a fair part as well, since she seemed to have left unscathed."

"She did say her familiar was a sloth bear…" Nico trailed off. "She could have slept through the entire 500 years of the purging."

"Did she ever mention a motif to capturing those children you tricked?" Free asked.

"She only mentioned she wanted to… take a gander, or something." Jamie spoke.

"Said it was for observational purposes." Nico added. "Hey, First- Don't you already know her plan? Thought she was the one who told you about it." Free jumped at the sudden sharpness in his tone of voice.

"Uhm-" Free almost stammered, but bit his tongue before they could see through his flickering disguise. The illusion itself was already difficult to maintain, seeing as Jamie and Nico were adepts at their expertise and could identify a hologram if it flickered- even for a split second. The fact that he had to stay within the projection's range already had him sweating beads.

"Yeah, about that…" He trailed off, scratching his head. "Guy like me doesn't always remember uh, the right things, you know?"

"Yeah Nico," Jamie interrupted. "Cut him some slack. He's an old man." Free chuckled in relief. Thank Shinigami he didn't get caught. Probably would've died. Or something like that.

His wristwatch beeped as a small image of Lindsey Garett flashed on the tiny screen. "Sorry guys," he stood abruptly.

"Gotta scram. I'll see you in a few hours." They nodded their heads in unison before he added, "And don't forget to contact Max. You'll need him to locate the rest of us."

"We got it!" Jamie grinned and waved as Free disappeared from the room.

"Well." She turned to Nico and her smile faded, but it was still there. "I'm not really- that mad, anymore."

"It was kinda your fault anyways, wasn't it?" Nico tried to smile sheepishly. They were a lot farther apart now. It was better that way.

A sudden thump interrupted the silence between them and Jamie looked up in alarm. A flake of white paint drifted from the ceiling, floating it's way down to the floorboards.

"Max shouldn't be back yet." She looked at Nico, her eyebrows slanting in worry.

"Hold on." He said. "Don't- don't do anything rash, okay?" She nodded quickly. "At least, not here. This place is too small. For. Your-" His waved his hands in small circles and she giggled a little.

"I got it." She said, taking a few steps back from the noise. The thump sounded again. Sand filtered through a small crack in the ceiling.

"_Shit!_" Nico muttered. "I _sleep_ here!"

"Nico!" Jamie said harshly. "Don't- swear!"

"Do you really think now's the appropriate time lecture me!?" Nico snapped. "My clean sheets are at stake here!"

"You don't even HAVE clean sheets!" Jamie squealed, her voice turning high pitched as a faster series of thumps came from the same spot. "Well not anymore!" This time she jumped back, her hands in position. As she did this her eyes started to glow a faint blue.

"No, no- no- Jes- I mean Jamie-" Nico's eyes widened in alarm. "Don't- don't do anything."

"I won't!" She scowled, looking up at the bigger cracks appearing. "I'm just- scared!"

"Exactly!" Nico almost shrieked. "Look- let me take care of this right now. We might not need to use much power."

"Oh so you're not scared of that _thing_ up there anymore, are you?" Jamie's mood suddenly changed. "Are you scared of _me?_" She sneered at him, and he was taken aback.

"Wha- _Shit!_" He cried out again as something started to poke out of the ceiling. It looked intimidating. He gulped.

"Jess- Jamie, listen!" He shouted this time, because the sand had started to pour in. "Contain it for now!"

"Why should I?" She hissed, and for a moment he saw her face- he saw her face-

_J-J-jitTer?_

"J-jamIE?"

_… Can I cuss now?_

"JAmIE Can yOU hear ME?"

_J-j-jitter_. The room was heavy with dust. He could see her figure faintly- it was glowing in the sandy fog. She seemed to…

_J-J-Jitter._

"J-j-Jamie?" his face felt numb. Sand was filtering in from all sides. He tried to reach for his alarm around his belt, but his hands were fi-fi-fidgeting.

_And… this is why you don't talk to a psycho._

"Shut up." He mumbled.

_I know, she's hot. Sweltering. But really, couldn't you go find someone else to hit on?_

"Let- ME CONCENTRATE!" Nico shook his head frantically.

The ceiling exploded. A cloud of dust and heat billowed from the open crack above him, and a piece of flying brick caught him square in the chest, sending him flying into a wall.

_Wow, damn. Impressive.  
_"Look." Nico said, struggling to move his fingers. At least his mouth was functioning, or else he'd have to keep listening to this PRICK. "Why don't you help me out instead?" Pieces of ceiling started crumbled down, and suddenly the desert sun shone brightly from above. The hot sand started to pile in, rocks and pebbles tumbling into the collapsed hideout. No more bed.

_But sweetie, you hate me._

"Yeah but at least I'm not telling you to f-fu-" he bit his lip.

_Ooh boy, you should keep that down! You know I don't like dirty mouthed boys._

"Frick you then." He glowered. The fog was dissipating.

_But baby, you need my help!_

"Then help me, geez!" He growled. The sand around him had dropped at an alarming rate, and right not that was not a good thing. Not at all.

_Anything you want, I can do._

_… wait. What did you want?_

"SAND!" He roared. The figure in the smoke jumped in alarm, and suddenly something was thrown at him with incredible force. "NOW!"

Plates of sand shot up from the ground in front of him - each 5 inches thick - deflecting a small, black hammer. As the sand disintegrated just as quickly as it had appeared, a smaller pillar shot up from below the flying weapon, catching it by the edge and throwing it off to a side.

"Get Jamie!" He suddenly thought of her, still in a trance, eyes glowing and all that. Although he hadn't seen her in action before, he was warned not to let her use her potential power unless under unimaginable threat.

_Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned._

"Oi." He glared at the shifting spike that circled him warily. "She's not angry or anything. It's just her thing."  
_It's a creepy 'thing' if you ask me. Got her covered like you asked, though._

He looked ahead and his eyes widened in shock- and anger as the sand had transported her to the opposite side of him and was currently piling above of her.

"You DOMED her?!" Nico shrieked.

_You said emergency! I do what I have to do, cutie pie._

"Will you stop?!" He gritted his teeth as he rolled up his sleeves. The sand around him was still evident, though it was now almost invisible. His line of vision was now clear though, and he could see the figure approaching him.

_Battered him up for you darling._

"Why do you even TALK to me?" Nico stepped forward, rolling his sleeves, eyes narrowed. There was a fine line between simple desert curse and talking torture.

_Baby - I can read your mind, you know._

"ARGH!" He said. "I'm trying to concentrate right now!"

_It's okay, I'll always be here if you still want to talk!_

"You drive me crazy." He sighed as he punched the alarm button on his belt. It flashed a bright red before going dim. The rest of the Six had been notified. First would probably kill him later.

_I AM Crazy, baby. Crazy with a capital C!_

"That's what we were told." The voice in the fog spoke, and the dust cleared.

* * *

_Dramatic entrance!_

_Nail through the head, stitches- ooh, I like that. _

_The hammer is a nice touch of colour, but I don't think it goes that well with the green, greyish look. What do you think, Nico? Nico?_

"It's just you now." _Stein looked down at the moving grits of sand. Their voices were unanimous. Maybe it was just one voice. Who knows, right?_

_Ahaha… Wait. Babe. Nico. Really?_

_I looked at Nico's face from the hovering spike. It was blank._

_Ah f*ck. Well whatever. _

"This one's unstable." _A female voice sounded next to the mad scientist. The weapon. As light reflected of the metal surface of the hammer, I could see the face of a pretty, sexy woman. Eye-patches are my thing. _

_Did I say that out loud? Oh no, I'm sorry Nico. Are we still a thing?_

"Obviously." _Stein clenched the weapon tightly, a smile on his face. _"Do you think this was the Sloth Witch's doing, or some other greater power?"

"She might've suggested, but I don't think this is within her power, to- to put _something_ inside a little boy." _The weapon frowned, her eyes staring at the boy who was still._

_Well, not for long._

_We all felt his power. Asura's power._

_It came through a series of echoed vibrations. Again, and again, it reverberated around the city, the world._

_What strength. _

_What dominance!_

_The Madness of Fear truly was as great as the legends told._

_And- just like Arachne, we started to wake. Our wavelengths finally stirred, hummed in sync with his ancient, godlike tune. A Madness wavelength._

_We live in a world of witches. Demons. Monsters._

_Some creatures just need a bigger wake up call._

* * *

Stein looked across at the frozen figure as trails of sand crawled up and into his sleeves, pants and hair. The boy's soul had tripled in size, but the trails of white sand continued to float around the boy's orange soul. At the heart of this a strange series of lines and patterns twitched uncontrollably, surrounding the boy's head.

"This doesn't look good." He muttered. "Looks like we're dealing with some sort of Madness." Marie inhaled sharply.

"I didn't think-" she stammered. "I didn't think something like this was possible."

"Well, now we know it's been done." Stein said simply. "All we have to figure out is how, and how to reverse it."

_Think it's gonna be that easy?_

Stein jerked suddenly as a series of sand spikes shot towards him from the ground, pieces of grit hurled from floor up. As he dodged the series of sand attacks he swung Mjolnir towards a spike, watching as the sand that came in contact with the hammer dissolve, busting through a series of sand plates and whizzing past the boy's frozen body.  
"Marie!" he signaled with both his hands and she nodded within the hammer's reflection, bouncing off a wall and hurtling towards him, a blinding light wrapping around both hands.

_A tonfa? Impressive, Marie. It's Marie, right?_

The sand vibrated with each syllable, and Stein stared at the ground curiously. How did they manage to infuse the desert sand with Madness? How was it done?  
And if it was not the Sloth-bear witch that had done it, then who?

_Concentrate, opponent!_

A sand spike was thrust towards him and he dodged it with expertise, holding the tonfa in a defensive stance. As sand circled him he strengthened his grip on the weapon pair.

"Stein!" Marie shouted over the sound of shifting sand. "I don't think it's the sand that's infused with Madness. That would be impossible!"

"But the Madness- it has a mind of it's- OWN!" Stein was thrown into the air unexpectedly as a sand slab shot from under his feet and lifted him above the ground. Remaining sand formed a series of darts as they began to target him mid-air.

"MARIE!" He shouted.

"Got it!" He grinned as electricity crackled up his sleeves, under his skin and into his veins. He buzzed with static and energy, and his eyes bore an intense bright yellow light. It filled him with power and-

As he glimpsed another block of sand thrown towards him he twisted his body out of the way, slammed the block into the ground, landing on his own two feet.

"Stein, be careful with this." His weapon warned him. His grin only grew wider.

The boy's body had started to move, in a strange abrupt way. His eyes were covered with a patch of moving sand, and more of it seemed to pour from his sleeves and around his hands like fingerless gloves.

_An upgrade! How convenient._ The boy grinned back at him.

"We have one aim, Marie." She nodded nervously at Stein's statement. "Target the boy."

_Is it just me, or did that sound evil?_

The sand adjusted itself to suit the boy's position and slowly his body moved into a strange, awkward stance.

"He's the one." Stein could feel something twisting in his gut. It felt- good.

"He's the one infused with the Madness."

The boy ahead with the dusty hair and sand sleeves stretched another smile and slammed the ground in front of him with his foot. It jumped in response, swirling into a massive column that completely surrounded the two opponents. The sound of the sand whipping past Stein's ears was deafening, and ever so often a grit or two would fly past his face, stinging his cheek.

The hideout was ruined, now. The sand dunes above would have collapsed into it if not for the boy's strange power, controlling the sand at will. Or was he?

As the couch was torn into fluffy shreds and the table crushed into a pile of splinters, Stein could feel something raging inside himself. A beckoning, an urge to let it go-

To slip up, and give in.

The Madness inside him tugged at his sleeves, around his eyes, clawing at his brain.

But he wouldn't let go. Not yet.

He stood tall, across a sandy platform opposite to the other Madness infused stranger.

"We found your base." Stein called out over the noise. "And we're going to take you down. All of you."

_Oh, really?_

A string of sand shot towards Stein's foot, almost piercing through the bone if the mad scientist had not shifted his leg in time. It ripped his trousers and sped past him at an incredible speed, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared, dissolving into the large sand ring around him.

The boy had been completely taken over. His eyes couldn't be seen, but his body was intact, at least. It was moving strangely now, swaying from one side to another. When Stein looked up to meet him, the boy stood straight, before performing a strange gesture. He could see a three tight strings of sand force him into a bow.

_Madness- it comes in many different names and variations. _

The sand hovered in the air for a while, before plunging towards the mad scientist at an alarming speed. Stein, taking the offensive route, took the hit and zoomed towards his opponent at an even faster rate, raising Mjolnir in his right hand. He leapt towards the boy-

"We know that." He said, before taking a swing. The sand holding the boy close collapsed, and he ducked under a single tonfa. It swept him under the sand, and brought him to the surface on the opposite side of the ring.

_So do I._

Sand spikes shot out from the interior of the ring, nicking the collar of Stein's jacket. He swung at the spikes in response and they dispersed, fading into the ground.

_This Madness I call- isolation._

Smaller columns of sand shot up from behind Stein, pushing him closer to his opponent. The ring started to close. It got darker and darker.

_Welcome to my domain._

* * *

_She's okay, right? Or, Tsubaki is no sleeping beauty._

"Yo." Why _did_ he have blue hair?

"Hey," She replied tiredly, resting against the hospital wall. She still wasn't allowed to leave the ward- her blood pressure seemed to have elevated during the dream to abnormal levels. Maybe it was Black*Star's excruciating hug, but either way Nygus didn't really care; she just wanted to make sure all her students were well rested.

"Are you okay?" He asked in a rather abnormally quiet voice. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I'm… fine." She said, shifting under the white blanket sheets. "You don't have to be here, really.

"I was waiting for you to wake up." Tsubaki could feel Black*Star weight on the left side of the bed as he sat on its edge. She sat up as he said this, recent memories surfacing in her head. Just yesterday something strange had happened to her- what started off as some sort of heart-ache had become an intense feeling of pain and later, unconsciousness. When she woke, not only did she feel immensely tired, but also seemed to have wandered through her meister's (and her friend's) dreams.

Unfortunately she was too tired to continue talking, and as a result, was forced to sleep the rest of the day.

"Sleep well?" Black*Star's soft tone- although it felt nice- was starting to irritate Tsubaki. Was he spacing out? Did he _ever_ space out?

"Yeah, alright- are you okay?" She looked up, but her meister's hair obscured his face, the blue spikes blocking her view. "You're… quiet."

"I can be quiet when I want!" He said with gusto. "I mean, no one can tell _me_ what to do, right?" He looked at her and smiled. His eyes looked slightly puffy and red. She didn't want to question, but-

"Black*Star, are you _really_?" she said, leaning towards him to get a better look at his face. He backed away almost instinctively and nodded, straying from her touch.

"I'm great!" He grinned this time, giving her a thumbs up. "Can't wait for us to start training and doing missions!"

"Hey-" she started, but he ignored her, hopping off the bed and starting to do some stretching exercises. He really couldn't get out of his intense training regimen.

"Black*Star." she tried to snap, but it came out as a weak attempt.

"What!?" he glared back at her, arms tense and shoulders high. There was something wrong with him- his attitude, his tone. He was never this quiet.

"You're not okay." Tsubaki shook her head, and tried to get out of bed- only then realizing that her legs felt strange, like jelly. As she tried to get out, her hand knocked over a cup of empty water and it hit the floor, causing her to jump in surprise.

Black*Star was at her side almost instantly, gently helping her back up in no time.

"You can't leave." He said quietly. "Nygus said not to let you train with me."  
"That's silly, I'm fine-" Tsubaki struggled against his grip, but his hand remained closed around her wrist. "Let go!"

He remained silent for a while and looked at it with such an intensity that Tsubaki felt almost reluctant to have said it. He finally released her wrist and let it fall onto the blankets below.

"Look, I can get out fine." She insisted.

"Okay." His voice trembled. It- trembled? She looked up in mild shock as he gazed down at her. Something was welling up in his eyes- and she didn't want to tell him what. "Try it."

Tsubaki attempted to swing her legs forward, but for some reason they refused to move. An immediate thought surfaced and she gasped, but held in her fear. She gently lifted the blankets off her legs and slowly, moved them off the bed. As they dangled off the edge, she realized something. It wasn't numb, it was pain. It was an overwhelming sore, aching pain that throbbed from head to toe, waist to calf. And as she realized it, the sensation came back.

"Ah!" she winced as she twitched her toes. Even that felt sore.

Still trying to follow Black*Star's lead, she attempted to hop of the bed. Bad mistake. Her legs collapsed forwards and she hit the floor with a thud. The pain was just as bad, and almost brought tears to her eyes.

"See?"

"See what?" Tsubaki said nervously. Black*Star was beside her again.

"Nygus told me." Black*Star said. "She said something about overexertion." Her confused expression made him continue.

"Apparently while I was…" he averted her gaze, "Training, when you collapsed it was because your heart and soul rate suddenly increased, and it was so intense that it knocked you out cold. And then your dream-" he hesitated.

"What about it?" she asked.

"You were unconscious for-" he bit his lip, not wanting to break the news to her.

"How long?" she insisted. _It can't have been that bad._

"The whole day." He said. "That's why- it's noon right now." He lowered his head. "I waited for you, but I guess you really _were_ tired."

"Well." She tried to push herself back up, but her arms gave way and she hit the ground for the second time. Black*Star propped her up against the side of the bed, and she felt- so helpless.

"That might not be too bad." She smiled weakly.

"_Not too bad_?" His voice started to strain. It was so different. Was he scared?

"Black*Star, it's only going to be one more day." She said in a soothing tone. "I'm going to be fine. In the meantime, I can talk to Maka about my dream and maybe she might be able to come up with some sort of solution."

"That's not the problem here." He scooted forward, looking at her with an anguished expression. "Tsubaki, I thought you were going to- " he struggled to say the word.

"But I didn't." She said reassuringly but it didn't seem to have any effect on him.

"… And, I'm not planning to either." She added.

Black*Star still ignored her.

"Because- it's not just that." he said angrily. His arms trembled. "First the battle. It's- I- I let you go." His face was full of guilt and pain. "Then this, this _freak accident_ that I'm SURE links to that _bitch-_" He slammed his hand against the side of the cabinet, making it rattle against the wall.

"Black*Star!" Tsubaki scolded.

"She IS one, and I'm not afraid to admit it!" he exclaimed furiously. "How DARE that witch try to use you! You're my _weapon_." He turned to her.

"You're my_ responsibility_." He said in a pleading voice. "Why couldn't I-"

His arms were twitching, face contorted into a mixture of emotions. Something about his expression made her feel- she didn't know what.

"And I need you." He blurted out. "You're my- right hand. I think that was how it went. That saying." He tried to laugh but it came out as a soft sigh. "I need you by my side, as my teammate, and- and as my weapon, and as- as-"

The door swung open and Nygus marched into the room.

"Am I seeing what I'm seeing?" she glared daggers at Black*Star, and wasn't surprised to be met with the exact same scorching look.

"Nygus, I need to-"

"Let Tsubaki rest, until she's ready." She interrupted. "I won't have my patients leave my ward without being fully recovered." Black*Star stayed where he was, rigid with anger.

"Black*Star, you need to get out." Nygus said in a commanding voice.

"I WON'T!" He persisted. "I- can't…" he slumped over with a defeated expression, knowing that his excuse alone wouldn't be enough. As much as he wanted Tsubaki by his side, she wasn't going to be with him. Every day that they weren't training together Black*Star didn't know what to do. Other than hang out with Soul and Kid, all he really did to pass time was all muscle training. No other weapon could beat his and Tsubaki's partnership. After all, …

"We're _gods_." he muttered before leaving the room.

"Black*Star!" she called out before he disappeared from view. He stopped, and turned his head ever-so slightly in her direction. She knew he was listening.

"Don't worry about me." She smiled. "Worry about yourself, alright?" there was silence between them, and Black*Star simply gave a short, abrupt nod before exiting the the ward.

"Probably shouldn't have told him that." Nygus said as she lifted Tsubaki back onto the soft pillows. "He probably didn't listen."

"Oh, I'm sure." Tsubaki sighed. "But I couldn't just let him go with that angry scowl on his face."

"You still can't leave." Nygus looked at her sternly. "You'll get better tomorrow as long as you don't try to escape."

"Believe me, I don't have the strength to." The younger weapon replied with a chuckle.

A light tap on the door interrupted the conversation and Tsubaki looked up in surprise as Maka came into the room.  
"I'm glad you're still here." She said warmly, and Maka waved cheerily back in return.

"I'm not taking missions today." The meister said, then looked up at Nygus. "May I stay with her? I really won't cause any trouble, I promise." The nurse sighed.

"Alright, I'll give you guys twenty minutes." She replied. "But only because I know you two won't try to cause any trouble."

"Thank you Nygus." Tsubaki said. The nurse dipped her head in reply, the stretch of her bandaged mouth hiding her smile. She checked the heart-rate monitor again and filled another glad of water for her patient before leaving the room, closing the door behind her.

* * *

"It was the exact same dream that you had a few days back." Tsubaki recalled, remembering how she could see Maka drifting in black, open space.

"And the voices I heard, that was you?" Maka said, scribbling down each word Tsubaki had to say. The weapon nodded, remembering how she had stretched out her hand to reach for her friend, only to wake up in another dream.

"Then…" her eyes narrowed as Tsubaki told Maka about her appearance in Black*Star's dream. "It was exactly how Black*Star described it. The witch was a meister- the woman we fought like, almost yesterday."

"But how is that possible?" Maka wondered. "Is it something to do with your wavelength?"

"I think so." Tsubaki said, trailing off. "My soul wavelength is compatible with yours _and_ Black*Star's surprisingly well. Is that why I experienced your deram as well?"

"It must be." Maka said, determined to find out. "This could be much bigger than I originally thought."

"What do you mean?" Tsubaki asked.

"I thought this would just be a different version of our dreams retold in your memory as _your_ dream." Maka tapped her pencil against her notepad to silent rhythm. "But it's not. It's the exact same one. Now we've both dreamt of the same thing- but in different perspectives."

"Especially Black*Star's dream." Tsubaki continued her train of thought. "A bear was chasing me _before_ I landed into Black*Star's dream. And then I experienced the same thing he did, except days after."

"Is it possible that your connection to us as a compatible soul wavelength caused this?" Maka stared at her in curiousity. "I need to know more about this. Maybe- maybe it could help."

"With what?"

"I don't know." She scratched her head thoughtfully. "But it's bound to have uncovered some mystery about human soul wavelengths." She bounced to her feet. "I have to tell Stein!"

"I'll see you later then." Tsubaki said.

"Yeah, later." Maka nodded as she sped out of the room. "Bye!"

* * *

_Butterfly._

"Liz, Patty." Kid acknowledged them both equally as he stood between both of their rooms with Beelzebub propped up against his left leg. "Are you ready?"

"NO!" Liz shouted from her room. "I- MY HAIR!" she screamed in a hideous fashion, while Patty hooted with laughter.

"What seems to be the problem?" Kid raised an eyebrow. "It's just hair, isn't it?"

"What if I told you it was asymmetrical?" she snapped from inside her bedroom. Then she went quiet, realizing was she had done.

Perhaps possibly doomed them from arriving on time.

"Asymmetrical?" Kid spat. "Impossible." He stomped towards Liz's door and flung it open, the hinges squeaking as Liz screamed, "NOO! GET OUT!"

"Well this is going to take a while." He muttered and advanced towards a very uncomfortable Elizabeth as she tried to move her head away from his hands.

Patty giggled as shrieks erupted from the room next to hers, only muffled slightly from the walls that stood between them. She felt much better now, thanks to Kid and Liz. Much better since last night's incident.

Now she thought of it as a nightmare and nothing more. Something seemingly impossible, and just frightfully real that it caused some misshapen hallucination to form in front of her.

Crona was dead. The black blood booklet was just a hoax, to scare the Spartoi into agreeing to what Medusa said. With no prove to further support Crona's revival other than her own mother's word, how were they to believe that what Medusa said was the truth?

Things were getting really confusing now, as Patty thought to herself the events that had unfolded after just a simple, regular day. And then chaos erupted from just a single piece of paper.

"Suddenly, Crona appears." Patty mumbled to herself as she flung a notepad into her backpack. She would be carrying that around for the 'Rescue Operation' that some other meister had wanted Kid to help her with.

"And everybody's like- oh my gosh! They're alive!" she exclaimed as she flung a wind-breaker into her bag.

"And then for _some_ reason Kiddo-kun wants to host a party for like, only us!" she sighs, as she recalled when she had stayed with her meister with Medusa in that strange room, and only went up to the ballroom to peek once or twice. There wasn't anyone there at all- it seemed as if no one bothered to show up. Strange though, since she thought she saw people buy tickets at the old granny's receptionist center. Whatever. At least they got all the food.

"But then, that funny lady came." She frowned as she slung her backpack over her shoulder. With her huge arms and scary hat, that woman really intrigued Patty, even though in her weapon form there was a limited amount of things she could see within her weapon's shape: the pistol.

"And now-" she sighed. Kid was running around, telling her and Liz to go meet this woman, then another person, then go on a trip to save another woman. And he kept blabbering on and on about people in the desert and how that was _crucial, or something like that_. Eh. She forgot.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! IT'S GOOD!" Liz screeched for the final time as Kid nodded appreciatively at his masterpiece.

"I do believe it's one of the best haircuts I've ever given." The Shinigami nodded in agreement. Her hairline was now right in the middle of her head, her hair parting in equally curved locks and curls. As Liz stared into the mirror at her reflection, she couldn't help but think how… _pretty_ it looked. Kid could tell she liked it too.

"Maybe I should be a barber." He wondered.

"Maybe we should _go._" Liz glared and Kid suddenly remembered his original purpose.

"Of course." He strode out of the room, swiftly checking the two wristwatches on both wrists. "We seem to be running… 10 minutes late."  
"Patty!" Elizabeth called, and her sister came running out of her room.

"_Now_ we can go." Kid said with satisfaction.

* * *

"You guys took a while." Lindsey remarked as the weapon/meister trio arrived at their destination. "What was the hold up?" Lindsey had asked the trio to meet Kid at the very edge of Death City, where the desert sand just spilt over cemented grounds.

"Hair." Kid replied smoothly, with no context whatsoever. Lindsey raised an eyebrow at Liz, who only shrugged.

"OCD struggles." she stated and the other girl nodded.

"Cora!" she called and suddenly a shadow appeared above Liz's own. Cora Devine jumped from a conveniently built roof and came crashing down, carrying a large bag behind her. As her feet hit the asphalt she stumbled into Lindsey.

"What's up?" Cora looked up at her and grinned.

"Where've you been?" Lindsey sighed. "We have work to do."

"You drone, but where's the fun in rescuing Eruka if it's going to be so easy?" Cora groaned. "And I'm being chased."

"Say what now?" Liz interrupted as she looked around frantically for any attackers.

"Oh, he's coming." Cora said smugly. "He's the 78th, isn't he, Lindsey?" She nudged the girl beside her and laughed as Lindsey responded with a sigh.

"For the last time, Cora, I don't even care." She replied haughtily.

"I know you like them fresh." Cora wiggled her fingers as a bellowing sound erupted from behind the tall, looming building Cora had leapt from.

"Cora," Lindsey growled. "I better not waste any of my energy on this bastard." Said girl held out her hands and gave her partner a cheery smile.

"Trust me." She replied. "It's going to be plenty fun." The Shinigami, on the other hand seemed to completely disagree with her statement, eyes narrowing as he stared at the trembling establishment in front of him, taking a few steps back. Thankfully the area was quite open and empty. If not things could get pretty… messy.

"There's an evil spirit headed our way." Kid said grimly, arms crossed. "I doubt this will be any fun."

"Don't be so morbid!" Cora lectured. "It's important to have fun sometimes, even in dire situations."

"Yeah, Kid!" Patty laughed, and raised her hand for a high five, which the other girl generously returned.

"Patty, please don't take her word seriously." Liz said weakly. "At least not when there's a monster this huge."

As she spoke the building in front of them started to shake, and a colossal hand emerged above the building's terrace. The creature seemed huge, but really it was only slightly larger than the construction in front of it. Nevertheless, it's glowing eyes and deadly aura made Liz quake in fear.

"Kid!" she hissed, and he jolted into action, extending a pale hand to her direction. She jumped towards it immediately, her weapon form landing neatly into his open palm. Patty followed in suit, letting out a _whoop whoop!_ as she tumbled into his other hand, her demon weapon form glinting in the hot sun.

"A .38 caliber gun?" Cora said, eyebrows raised. "Wasn't he wielding a .42 caliber Death Eagle in the video?"

"What video?" Kid looked up at her but was ignored, as Lindsey cut in to speak.

"We're all reserving our energy, Cora." Lindsey muttered. "Now hurry up and finish him off." The building had started to crumble, and large chunks of concrete smashed onto open ground. The evil human laughed as he brought his leg up to obliterate the building.

"So, who is he?" Kid shouted over the shaking noises.

"Apparently," Cora shouted back, looking at the human, "A soldier from Ragnarök!"

As the evil human lifted its sword Liz, clenched tightly in Kid's hand, felt her teeth chattering.

"K-Kid, he looks pretty u-um…" she shivered.

"You'll be fine." Kid assured her as he dodged some flying debris from the collapsing building.

"Oi, OCD Prick." Cora yelled, and Kid looked up.

"Me?" he said, almost astounded.

"Yeah, you. Take care of the monster from here, alright?" The girl replied. "Lindsey and I can't reach him from here. We can only do short range shit." Said girl slapped Cora on the arm ["Language!" "Oi, you swear all the time, hypocrite."], though her attention was more focused on the incoming giant.

"Are you…" Patty's eyes glowed. "A meister?" Cora shrugged.

"Well yeah, that's what Eruka told us." She replied. "And-" she was interrupted by the giant who had stopped to glower at them.  
"I AM GALATIUS, IRON GIANT OF RAGNAROK!" he roared. "AND YOU'RE JUST IGNORING ME?" With a bellow, the soldier kicked the building towards the group of five, and the building slid slowly across the ground, now separated from it's original area. Wires and pipes were torn away to reveal a messy array of construction work underneath, and cracks appeared on the empty road. If they didn't act now things could get worse.

"Come on, Lindsey." Cora licked her lips, eyes glinting as she walked calmly towards the threatening figure, unfazed by the building that was steadily making its way towards her small figure. "Let's show 'em what we can do."

"See you in a bit." Lindsey muttered to Kid, ignoring his startled cry as she ran after Cora. The other girl stretched out a hand and Lindsey jumped, her body glowing white, surrounded by green aura. A split-second later a pair of butterfly swords lay neatly in Cora's hands, and she clasped them tightly and picked up the pace, racing towards the falling building. As huge blocks of wreckage collapsed from the construction she dodged with speed and agility that rivaled even Death the Kid himself, rolling out of the way as a boulder crushed the area inches to her right. As she untucked herself from the roll, Cora spied a block that was seconds from hitting the ground.

"Lindsey!" She shouted, and the pair of daggers in her hand nodded, one of them concealing the face of her weapon partner. She leapt nimbly towards the chunk of debris and, using the momentum of the jump, kicked it away and sprang towards a rock higher that the previous. It was pretty quick, really, how she did it. As energy coursed through her veins Cora scrabbled up another rock. The impact was shocking, but if the feat was performed quickly she could easily push herself off and jump to the wall of the building, scaling the decrepit wall with the pair of daggers between her teeth.

"You're doing alright." Lindsey mumbled in approval as Cora reached the top of the building and swung her legs onto the flat platform.

"YOU LITTLE-" the evil human screamed but was cut off by a series of shots aimed at his eyes, Kid was running to and fro, dodging rocks and firing energy charges rapidly at the monstrous form.

"Keep your eyes on me!" the Shinigami shouted, as he continuously shot at the demon's eyes.

"Kid," Liz called. "Don't waste your strength here. We'll need to save our soul resonance for other enemies." He nodded, but kept firing.

The impact of the gun shots pushed 'Galatius' back until he was, in Cora's eyes, in a weak position.

"Ready?" Cora grinned, directing her words to her weapon. Lindsey nodded in reply, stating the obvious, "Ready." Before Cora sprinted across the building's rumbling platform and leaped. Her arms, though loose by her side still clenched her two weapons tightly and as the meister/weapon duo were still airborne, Cora let out a yell.

"SOUL RESONANCE!" she whooped, eyes wide with adrenaline and ecstasy, but Lindsey was devoid of the feeling.

"WHAT!?" the weapon shrieked back, "NO, NO, STOP! STOP! STOP!" As she screamed their souls connected and a spark ignited in both their souls, burning with excitement, with rhapsody and-

Rejection.

Their wavelengths clashed, fighting each other in powerful, electrostatic waves. Lindsey could feel her meister's overwhelming energy engulf her own rejection with so much force it was difficult not to obey, and the crackling disharmony of their wavelengths rattled against her ribcage. It was a sound she heard constantly, a shrill, piercing whine that pulsated all around her. The wavelength in control was Cora's: a huge inundate authority over her own refusal to resonate. It wasn't that she wasn't strong enough to decline… but the consequences of denial.

Lindsey, within her weapon form, dropped to her knees with hands pressed against her ears.

"Stop it, Cora, Cora, stop it." She cried into the darkness but she heard no reply. Only the excited holler of her meister as Cora slammed into the evil human, plunging the pair of butterfly swords into Galatius' neck and dragging the beautiful, burnished edges across his grotesque neck. Blood and ash spewed from his neck as the _[A/N: self proclaimed]_ Iron Giant howled in agony, fingers disintegrating as he started to shrivel and turn to dust. Cora slid down his massive arm, skimming her weapons along his skin and watching in glee as the swords cut through his body like butter.

As the evil human dissolved into ash and gas the meister responsible for his death hit the ground.

"We did it!" Cora said excitedly. "Lindsey, this is like, our 8th big one right?" Her weapon made no reply as the meister pranced around the ruined area, a glowing Kishin egg floating towards them.

"Ugh…" her weapon finally replied, as she lay on the ground of her weapon form, eyes downcast. "Yeah, great." As Cora dropped the twin swords, they warped and spasmodically reverted back into human form, Lindsey lying on the ground groaning in agony.

Kid trudged over to the duo, slightly confused as to what exactly happened. First, he contemplated the sudden discord of the two wavelengths that happened while the duo was fighting the evil human. Secondly, the fact that they weren't anywhere close to Medusa's concealed location, somewhere he was dying to get to. And thirdly…

"Hey." Kid stooped down beside Lindsey. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, _no._" Lindsey replied grumpily, and composed herself, sitting upright.

"What's up with that?" Kid wondered, and motioned towards Lindsey's partner, who was at the moment running towards the Kishin egg.

"Oh, nothing." Lindsey replied absentmindedly. "She's just… like that."

"Are you sure?" Liz and Patty joined them, the sisters looking at Lindsey curiously. "She just _dropped_ you."

"Yeah, I tell her not to but sometimes she just… forgets." Lindsey said grimly. "Pretty silly of her, since I can't reform if my weapon parts aren't within 2 meter's distance."

"Speaking of weapon…" Kid said, poking her arm, "You're human. How can you form two weapons with only one body?"

"Kiddo-kun, they're not separate weapons." Patty perked up. "That's why!"

"I guess I'm just not normal, am I?" Lindsey muttered, her face still downcast. A shout sounded from behind her as Cora leapt into her weapon's open arms.

"Check it!" she said and shoved the spirit into her weapon's face. "It's a really huge Kishin egg… you think it could serve for two evil human souls? You think we could reach our 80th today?!" Cora rambled, her eyes lighting up at the mention of their next target.

"Gimme that." Lindsey swiped the Kishin egg and opened her mouth, taking a chunk out of the soul. Faint wisps of the remains dripped down her chin, though she didn't notice. "Thanks." She grumbled.

* * *

"So, are we going or not?" Kid said impatiently after the weapon finished her meal.

"Yeah." Said weapon said, shuffling to her feet. Her backpack, and Cora's, were surprisingly intact. Luckily for them the space the battle occurred in was inhabited and there were no residents at the time.

Kid checked his watch. It was now 6pm.

"We should head out." Liz nodded. "Pretty much now."

"Yeah!" Patty shouted, excited to show off her own weapon capabilities to their new friends.

And finally, FINALLY they headed towards Medusa's base.

Pretty much unaware of the hybrid creature following them above the rooftops, their slithery form crawling across the houses they passed.

"Hey, kid." Ragnarok grinned, phlegm dripping from his grin. "How… excited are you, to meet your little pathetic friends again?"

"I-"

Fuchsia hair. Black, striped shirt.

Buttons and cufflinks.

Black eyes. Those black, black eyes.

"Yeah." Crona said dully. "I- g-guess I am."

Asura smiled.

* * *

_Yes, master, yes._

So.

I'm thinking.

We should host a party after we're done.

_What do you mean, sir?_

I mean exactly what I mean, Snake. A party. Champagne and the sort.

_Sir, by the time you're done fighting him there won't be any champagne_.

Don't be stupid. I'll make sure people still exist, under my control.

Though of course, only _after_ I kill him.

_Master-_

What?  
_Just- saying, you can't physically remove him from their body._

What, are you kidding me? That's the reason why I hired you.

_Excuse me?_

Sloth, you _moron_. Don't tell me you haven't thought of it yet.

_What?_

Your motive matches mine perfectly. I'll find you your little batteries, as long as you help me.

That was the deal, wasn't it?

_But I'm still not sure-_

Shut up. It'll come. In due time, everything will make sense.

_Sir._

_Sir!_

_S-sir._

_SIR!_

_Yo, Sir- FU-!_

_Master._

What's your situation? Second?

_Out of command._

…What?

_Out- out of c-command._

Give me someone who can speak. Please.

_First reporting._

_Franken Stein and his weapon have destroyed our first base. Third is out of commission. _

You mean she's unconscious, isn't she?

_Fifth and Sixth reporting!_

_We're intercepting the attackers right now!_

_Fourth, reporting._

_Joining first. Sloth told us to move under Medusa's orders._

And what does the snake demand?

_We encounter them at her command central. _

Fine by me.

Now, if you'll all excuse this old one,

I have people to kill.

* * *

**Hey, guys.  
So you may be wondering- _wow solemn-_ and yeah, I guess it's been a while since I've updated. IN fact, it's been a year. I've changed quite a bit, as you can see. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN IM NOT ENERGETIC  
JUST. Conserved. hehe.**

**And I apologize, because first of all I kind of started to get less involved in the Soul Eater fandom, and more into other stuff. But hey, I don't think I'm going to stop writing.**

**I don't know how long it'll take to write the next chapter, but there's no way I'll be able to write it in a month. So, sorry about that. I have, however, seemed to improve and I will be testing a lot of my skills as a (still amateur) writer. Hopefully stuff doesn't get too messy on the way.**

**If may seem like things are slowing down in the plot- that's actually me trying to create a proper plan for this story. When I first started, this was just supposed to be 2 chapters long. AHaha. Apparently I was wrong.**

**So if you're still into this, I'm glad you're still here. If you're not, that's totally fine. **

**R&amp;R appreciated, so see ya!**


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